BOSTON — Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras found himself ejected for the second night running on Tuesday, this time after hurling his batting helmet in the direction of Washington Nationals pitcher Cade Cavalli during a tense confrontation that emptied both dugouts.
The trouble started in the top of the fourth inning when Cavalli struck out Contreras on a full-count pitch. Rather than walk away, the 27-year-old right-hander shouted at Contreras as he headed back toward the Boston dugout.
Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said he heard Cavalli shout “Sit down, boy” after getting the strikeout.
Contreras, who had slugged a three-run home run off Washington’s Miles Mikolas the night before and celebrated with a dramatic bat flip — for which he later apologized — turned around and walked toward Cavalli on the mound. Both benches emptied as the two exchanged words.
“He struck me on a good pitch, I was walking back to the dugout, and then he did what he did, and the rest was history,” Contreras told reporters after the game, adding, “He was like, instigating, and I snapped.”
Boston catcher Carlos Narvaez attempted to restrain Contreras, but Contreras broke free long enough to jump and fling his batting helmet toward Cavalli.
Order was restored fairly quickly, but not before Contreras, Tracy, Boston outfielder Nate Eaton, and Mikolas were all ejected. Cavalli, however, was allowed to remain in the game.
Cavalli pointed to an earlier moment in the first inning — when Contreras nearly bumped into him as both left the field — as the beginning of the tension.
“He’s just been doing stuff,” Cavalli said of Contreras. “In the first inning, he just runs past me and brushes me. It’s just something you don’t do in baseball. I think he knows that. I didn’t say anything. I just looked at him. And a few words were said after the strikeout. It’s part of the game. And he’s going to let everybody run out there and try and do whatever he does, throw a helmet and get himself tossed.”
Despite all the commotion, Cavalli finished seven innings, surrendering just one run on one hit while striking out 13 batters. Washington cruised to an 8-1 victory.
Tracy made clear he felt the punishment wasn’t handed out fairly. “After everything that happened, the people that they chose that were going to leave the game, I just felt like the other pitcher should have been one of them too,” he said. “That was my biggest complaint.”
Being ejected in back-to-back games is unprecedented in the Red Sox’s 126-year history. The 34-year-old Venezuelan native acknowledged he is going through a particularly difficult stretch, noting that his home country is still reeling from two devastating earthquakes last week.
On Monday, Contreras had been ejected in the second inning after mimicking an appeal gesture following a called strikeout on a checked swing.
“I feel like everything is against me right now,” Contreras said. “I got ejected last night from nothing. I got ejected today even though I was walking back to the dugout.”
