The Washington Nationals and Boston Red Sox were in a benches clearing brawl on Tuesday night after Cade Cavalli and Willson Contreras got into it
The Washington Nationals evened the series on the road against the Boston Red Sox with an 8-1 win on Tuesday night, powered behind seven runs between the seventh and eighth innings. Yet the win did not come without controversy after a benches clearing brawl materialized in the bottom of the fourth inning with Washington Nationals starting pitcher Cade Cavalli on the mound.
After striking out Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras on a full count, Cavalli was heard yelling "sit down boy," which drew a reaction from the Red Sox first baseman before the players quickly spilled onto the field. That would then turn into a near full brawl with Nationals pitcher Miles Mikolas among the four who were ejected from the game. The situation escalated after Contreras, initially separated, charged at the pile and threw his helmet and hitting Nationals first baseman Andres Chaparro.
Yet there was additional history that may have led to emotions spilling over midway through the game. After the final out in the bottom of the first inning, Contreras was also seen cutting off Cavalli's path from the mound to the dugout, which seemingly irked the Nationals' starter.
"He's just been doing stuff. You look at the first inning, he just runs past me and brushes me. It's just something you don't do in baseball," Cavalli said postgame.
Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy added postgame that the first inning incident was not intentional after adding that Contreras apologized to Cavalli immediately after.'
Contreras opted against expanding on the incident following the game and second ejection in as many night.
"I feel like it would go against me," Contreras said postgame while also "I don't know" if he interpreted Cavalli's comments as racism.
"In the moment, I immediately ran out there to try to get Cade and separate things as best I could," manager Blake Butera added.
It would not be enough, though, after Mikolas was seen fighting and throwing Red Sox outfielder Nate Eaton to the ground, which sparked his second career ejection as he tipped his cap on his way to the dugout. Eaton was also ejected alongside Contreras, Mikolas and Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy. Yet Mikolas tried to be a pacifist early on after he was seen trying to hold back Contreras, his former teammate, when it first escalated.
The MLB has yet to formally announce any punishments in the wake of the scuffle with the two teams set to close out the series on Sunday with first pitch set for 1:35 PM.
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