Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras only played four innings in Tuesday night's loss to the Nationals, but still managed to make franchise history.
BOSTON -- The Boston Red Sox fell to 37-47 on Tuesday night thanks to an 8-1 loss to the Washington Nationals, snapping the team's season-high five-game winning streak. Despite the loss, it was veteran first baseman Willson Contreras who stole the show and managed to make Red Sox history in the process.
What happened
In the fourth inning, Contreras was caught looking by Washington starter Cade Cavalli. As the 34-year-old first baseman was heading back to the Boston dugout, Cavalli appeared to shout "sit down, boy" at him, causing Contreras to head towards the mound.
Chaos ensued as both dugouts and bullpens emptied, coming together along the first base line. As tempers continued to flare, Contreras took off his helmet and hurled it overhand towards Cavalli, leading to increased pushing and shoving.
By the time cooler heads prevailed three players were ejected from the game: Contreras, Boston utility man Nate Eaton, and Washington starter Miles Mikolas, the latter of whom got into a shoving match on the outskirts of the scuffle.
Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy was later ejected as he argued that Cavalli should have also been thrown out of the game for his role in initiating the fight.
History made
Contreras was ejected from Monday night's win over Washington after tapping his helmet to signal for a challenge after being rung up by first base umpire Nic Lentz. According to Dave O'Brien on the NESN broadcast, Contreras became the first player to be ejected in back-to-back games in Red Sox history.
There was also this, from earlier in the game, which could have played a role in the bad blood.
Suspension looming?
The Red Sox now risk losing Contreras for an extended period of time for his actions in the brawl. In 2017, then-Nationals star Bryce Harper was suspended four games by Major League Baseball after throwing his helmet at San Francisco Giants reliever Hunter Strickland as part of an on-field brawl. It is worth noting that Harper proceeded to throw punches at Strickland after the helmet throw, which Contreras did not do.
The loss of Contreras for any number of games would be a massive blow to a Boston clubhouse that has just started to build some momentum towards getting themselves back in the playoff race. The 34-year-old veteran has been the most consistent hitter in the Boston lineup, hitting .280/.374/.529/.903, leading Red Sox hitters in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, home runs (18), and RBI.
The Red Sox will look to make it a 6-1 homestand on Wednesday afternoon in the series finale against the Nationals. Payton Tolle (4-5, 2.78 ERA) will get the start for Boston opposite Andrew Alvarez (1-1, 3.44 ERA) for Washington. First pitch from Fenway Park set for 1:35 p.m. ET.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Remember to join our RED SOX on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Red Sox fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!
