Contreras was heated after Cavalli yelled toward him after a fourth-inning strikeout
Tempers flared and benches cleared in Boston Tuesday evening during an 8-1 Nationals win. It was the bottom of the fourth inning when Nationals pitcher Cade Cavalli dropped in a nice breaking ball for a called strike three. Cavalli could be heard yelling, “Sit down, boy!” The strikeout victim, Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras, was none too pleased with it. He could be seen saying, “Are you talking to me?!”
Contreras approached the mound, and then the benches cleared for a minor scuffle. It got a bit heated in there and Contreras appeared to try to throw his helmet in Cavalli’s direction.
Contreras was ejected for the second straight game. Red Sox bench player Nate Eaton and interim manager Chad Tracy were also given the heave-ho. On the Nationals’ end, Miles Mikolas, a starting pitcher on an off day, was the only player ejected.
Contreras has publicly spoken about how much the devastating earthquakes in his home country of Venezuela have affected his psyche in recent days. He was involved in a benches-clearing incident on Friday and now he’s been tossed two straight nights. He also hit a home run and yelled “Venezuela!” and was seen crying in the dugout.
In the other dugout on Tuesday, Cavalli ended up having quite a night. In seven innings, he gave up just one run on one hit with 13 strikeouts.
