The suspensions stem from a heated exchange after Nationals' Cade Cavalli struck out Red Sox's Willson Contreras before players intervened.
The Washington Nationals and Boston Red Sox are now dealing with some major consequences following a bench-clearing brawl at Fenway Park.
Following a scuffle that began between Nationals righty Cade Cavalli and Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras, the two have each been suspended for seven games as a result of Tuesday night’s incident.
Washington pitcher Miles Mikoals was handed down a five-game suspension while Boston outfielder Nate Eaton will be out for three games.
All four parties were fined undisclosed amounts, and barring any appeals, the suspensions will begin on Friday.
Cavalli, after striking out Contreras, yelled “sit down, boy” at him, and there is a historical context of racism with the term “boy” in the US specifically. The Venezuelan Contreras declined to weigh in on that component and deferred to the MLB.
It led to an exchange that later saw Contreras charge the mound while trying to throw his helmet towards Cavalli before being halted.
To read more about the brawl from Boston’s perspective, here is the full story from Red Sox Roundtable writer Zach Coe.
It led to four ejections of Contreras, Boston interim manager Chad Tracy, Eaton and Mikolas.
Cavalli was the only involved player not ejected, and his side eventually went on to win 8-1 that evening.
Cavalli now claims to be haunted by the moment and apologized for it all on Wednesday, iterating that there was no ill intent behind is comments.
To read more about things from Washington’s perspective on the brawl, here’s the full story from Nationals Roundtable writer Ahmed Ghafir.
The Nats will host the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday while the Sox will kick off a nine-game road trip against the Los Angeles Angels.
