Tuesday was fight night at Fenway Park as the Boston Red Sox and Washington Nationals brawled after Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras exchanged words with Nationals starter Cade Cavalli.
Cavalli appeared to yell "Sit down, boy" at the Red Sox slugger following a strikeout. Contreras responded to him verbally and began to walk toward the pitcher, and the benches cleared. Contreras then broke free of Nats catcher Keibert Ruiz, who was trying to stay in front of him, and threw his helmet at Cavalli in the middle of the scrum.
Cade Cavalli struck out Willson Contreras and immediately told him "sit down, boy." 😳
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) July 1, 2026
Contreras took exception and the benches emptied. pic.twitter.com/7AMf26ewjK
Contreras, Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy, Red Sox outfielder Nate Eaton, and Nationals pitcher Miles Mikolas were all ejected once order was restored. Eaton and Mikolas were tossed for getting into their own punch-up off to the side.
Miles Mikolas and Nate Eaton were among those ejected after getting into it with each other. pic.twitter.com/FAcoHJgjGD
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) July 1, 2026
Cavalli, however, was allowed to continue pitching. He ended up dominating the Red Sox, striking out a career-high 13 over seven innings of one-hit ball in an 8-1 Nationals victory.
It's the second straight ejection for Contreras, who was tossed by first base umpire Nic Lentz on Monday after tapping his helmet following a check-swing strike-three call in the second inning. He's the first player in Red Sox history to get tossed in consecutive games, according to Ari Alexander of 7News Boston.
In the first inning of Monday's game, Contreras launched a long home run over the Green Monster and punctuated the blast with a bat flip. The Venezuelan was emotional and shouted his country's name while rounding the bases. Venezuela is reeling from a series of devastating earthquakes last week that have killed at least 1,900 people.
