Boston Red Sox slugger Willson Contreras was ejected from his second consecutive game on Tuesday night after confronting Washington Nationals pitcher Cade Cavalli on the mound at Fenway Park and igniting a benches-clearing brawl.
On a day that began with Contreras and his Venezuelan teammates raising money in the streets for victims of the country’s devastating earthquake, Contreras found himself in a heated clash after being struck out by Cavalli in the fourth inning.
Although it’s still unclear why he did so, Cavalli could be seen yelling ‘Sit down bro’ at Contreras as the Red Sox first baseman made his way out of the batter’s box.
On Monday, Contreras celebrated a big three-run homer off Miles Mikolas with an exaggerated bat flip, which he later apologized for. It’s unclear if that moment was in any way connected to Tuesday’s confrontation.
In any case, Contreras became enraged after listening to whatever Cavalli had to say on Tuesday night and needed to be restrained by his teammate and countryman, Boston catcher Carlos Narvaez.
And when Contreras did slip away, he took the opportunity to launch his helmet in Cavalli’s direction.
Bosston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras apporaches the mound to confront Cade Cavalli, but is stopped by his countryman, Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz on Tuesday night
Willson Contreras tries to get to Washington pitcher Cade Cavalli on Tuesday in Boston
Cade Cavalli is restrained after having words with Boston slugger Willson Contreras
Although a few other shoving matches ensued, umpires gained control of the situation before ejecting Contreras, Boston interim manager Chad Tracy, Boston outfielder Nate Eaton and Mikolas.
And with that, Contreras entered Boston history by becoming the first Red Sox player to be ejected in two consecutive games. Not even the mercurial Carl Everett, who was once suspended for grabbing his crotch, was ejected from consecutive games.
The 34-year-old Contreras has acknowledged struggling with the aftermath of the earthquake in Venezuela.
‘Everything that’s going on in Venezuela, it’s not easy to hide,’ Contreras told reporters after Monday’s win over Washington. ‘It’s not easy just to show up and play with everything that is going on in my country.’
The death toll from the twin earthquakes has risen to nearly 2,000 as aftershocks have eased in recent days.
National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez said Tuesday that the earthquakes left more than 10,000 people injured and 15,000 displaced.
Boston bench coach Jose David Flores walks Willson Contreras back to the Boston dugout
Before the game, Red Sox teammates and native Venezuelans Willson Contreras (left) and Wilyer Abreu (right) raised money for their home country following its devastating earthquake
Interim manager Chad Tracy argues with umpire Vic Carapazza after the brawl
Contreras launched a 421-foot home run in the game before flipping his bat into the sky and shouting ‘Venezuela’ long before either the ball or his lumber had a chance to land.
‘I feel like I could be there helping people and I can’t do that,’ Contreras said. ‘And the homer just represents something that I pray to God for it to happen, because that’s the only thing I can do for Venezuela right now physically. And that’s why I was emotional.’
Contreras and Red Sox teammate Wilyer Abreu were both members of the Venezuelan team that won the WBC back in March.
This is not the first on-field confrontation of the season for Contreras, who has been hit by 14 pitches this season – more than all but two MLB batters. Days earlier, Contreras had words with New York Yankees Will Warren over some chin music. And prior to that, Contreras had a heated exchange with his brother William’s team, the Milwaukee Brewers, after being hit by a pitch in April.
Remarkably, it was the 24th time Contreras had been beaned by a Brewers pitcher.
