What had been a relatively quiet getaway game at Comerica Park turned into a bench-clearing melee. Royals pitcher Runelvys Hernandez and Tigers shortstop Carlos Guillen were among seven ejections after a hit-by-pitch escalated into a dogpile along the first-base line. Three players had already been hit by pitches, two of them by Hernandez, when a 1-0 pitch from the Kansas City right-hander hit Guillen in the head leading off the bottom of the sixth inning. Guillen thought he had been hit by the previous pitch in the foot, prompting him to toss his bat and stroll towards first before home plate umpire Marty Foster called him back. Hernandez's ensuing fastball struck Guillen in the side of the helmet near his temple. Hernandez also hit two of the first three batters he faced in the first inning, Brandon Inge and Chris Shelton, but neither player thought they were hit intentionally. Foster issued a warning after Mike Maroth hit David DeJesus near his right knee on a 2-2 pitch with two outs in the second inning. Both Hernandez and his teammates insisted the last blow wasn't on purpose, either. "I didn't try to hit anybody," Hernandez said. "I feel sorry about [Guillen], but I didn't try to hit him on purpose. ... A lot of pitchers hit guys in the head. I don't do that. I'm not that kind of a pitcher. I always throw inside." Though not every Tiger was certain either way, most of them said that wasn't the point. Beyond that, they said Hernandez's angry exchange with Guillen was an indictment. "He's got better control than that. I know he does," Tigers pitcher Jeremy Bonderman said. "He showed it the whole rest of the game. If you want to throw at somebody's head, you can kill somebody or end his career. I think it's totally wrong."