Boston Red Sox catcher Willson Contreras was ejected for the second consecutive game on Tuesday night as a brawl erupted between the Red Sox and the Washington Nationals at Fenway Park. The incident began in the bottom of the fourth inning after Nationals pitcher Cade Cavalli struck out Contreras looking on a full count.
NESN microphones near the field captured audio of Cavalli appearing to say, “Sit down, boy,” after the strikeout. Contreras turned towards Cavalli, pointing at himself as if to confirm the pitcher was addressing him. After being restrained by Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz, Contreras attempted to confront Cavalli, unsuccessfully trying to throw his batting helmet at the pitcher. The situation escalated quickly, with pushing and shoving near the first base line as Red Sox players attempted to hold Contreras back. Bullpens from both teams emptied, but Contreras was eventually restrained and ejected from the game.
Joining Contreras in the ejection were interim Boston manager Chad Tracy, third baseman/outfielder Nate Eaton, and Nationals pitcher Miles Mikolas.
This is not the first recent incident involving Contreras. On Friday, he jawed at Yankees starter Will Warren after taking a pitch. While he eventually walked and emphatically flipped his bat, the ensuing benches-clearing incident did not result in any ejections. On Monday, Contreras was ejected from the series opener against Washington after being called out on a check swing. He tapped his helmet in disagreement with the call, and the umpire ejected him.
Contreras stated after Monday's game that his actions were not directed at the umpire. "He told me, ‘Because you tapped your helmet.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I didn’t make eye contact with you.’ I didn’t argue. I didn’t yell. I didn’t do anything wrong. And he told me, ‘Yeah, but I have to throw you out.’ I was like, ‘You didn’t have to, but you made that choice. That’s it.’"
Contreras, a native of Venezuela, also shared that he has been dealing with difficult emotions due to the devastating earthquakes in his home country, which have resulted in over 1,700 deaths. "The homer just represents something that I prayed to God for it to happen, because that’s the only thing that I can do for Venezuela right now, physically, and that’s when my emotions showed,” he said. “I was thinking of so many kids that have died, so many people that have died, and it’s not easy to deal with it.”