Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras was ejected for a second straight game on Tuesday after throwing his helmet toward Washington Nationals pitcher Cade Cavalli during a heated exchange that ended with the benches clearing and multiple ejections.

Incident Details

Cavalli struck out Contreras looking on a full-count pitch in the top of the fourth of what eventually became an 8-1 victory by the Nationals. The 27-year-old right-hander then shouted at Contreras as Contreras made his way back to the Boston dugout.

Red Sox manager Chad Tracy said he heard Cavalli yell “Sit down, boy” after fanning Contreras. Contreras, who is Venezuelan, demurred when asked if he felt there was a racial component to Cavalli’s word choice.

Contreras, who hit a three-run homer off Washington’s Miles Mikolas on Monday and celebrated with a massive bat flip that he later apologized for, then approached Cavalli on the mound. The two jawed at each other as both dugouts emptied.

Aftermath

Things settled down quickly after that, though the brief dustup ended with Contreras, Boston interim manager Chad Tracy, Boston outfielder Nate Eaton and Mikolas being ejected. Cavalli pointed to an incident at the end of the top of the first when Contreras nearly ran into the pitcher as both exited the field as the spark that set things in motion.

Original reporting: KSAT Sports (San Antonio) — read the source article.