Willson Contreras found himself at the center of another chaotic scene on June 30, and this time the fallout spilled beyond just him. The Boston Red Sox infielder was ejected for the second straight game after a second-inning confrontation with Washington Nationals pitcher Cade Cavalli turned into a benches-clearing mess.
It started after Contreras struck out looking on the sixth pitch of the at-bat. As he headed back toward the dugout, Cavalli shouted something at him, and Contreras took it personally. He turned back toward the mound and jawed at Cavalli, and the situation escalated fast.
Contreras charged at Cavalli, with about five people needed to keep him from getting to the pitcher. During the scramble, his helmet came off and he threw it into the crowd of bodies. The confrontation never reached the point of a punch being thrown, but the scene was still plenty ugly.
Replays picked up Cavalli saying, "sit down, boy," after the strikeout, a comment Contreras clearly heard. Interim manager Chad Tracy stepped in to argue Contreras’ case before getting tossed as well.
The umpires took more than 10 minutes to sort through the aftermath. Contreras was ultimately ejected, along with Nate Eaton, who was not in the starting lineup, and Nationals pitcher Miles Mikolas.
Eaton and Mikolas were involved in a separate exchange off to the side of the main altercation. Cavalli stayed in the game.
For Contreras, the ejection marked his second in as many nights. He had been tossed the previous game after tapping his helmet in disagreement with a check swing call from first base umpire Nic Lentz.
Contreras has been playing with extra emotion over the last few days, and the source of that edge goes beyond baseball. The devastating earthquakes that hit Venezuela on June 24 have weighed on him. On June 29, he honored his country with an extra-long home run trot after going deep against Mikolas in the series opener, and that may have factored into how Cavalli responded.
In Other News...
Giants Fans Are Getting Dragged Back Into This Free Agency Debate
Several weeks after the Giants Pride Night, the fallout from four pitchers protesting the teams Pride hats is still echoing around San Francisco. What started as a game-night controversy has turned into a broader conversation about the city the Giants represent, and whether that environment can become a factor when the club tries to bring in outside talent.
San Francisco Chronicle reporter Susan Slusser said the debate could linger because the citys prominent LGBTQ community is part of the reality free agents have to consider. The question hovering over the Giants now is not just how they manage the public reaction to the protest, but whether that reaction becomes something players weigh when the offseason market opens up again. [Read more 🡒]
Brandon Pfaadt Is Back In A Huge Moment For Arizona
Arizona has been piecing together its pitching plans while working through injuries to Michael Soroka and Ryne Nelson, and that pressure has pushed the club into some familiar roster juggling. The latest move gives Torey Lovullo another option as the Diamondbacks try to steady a rotation that has had to absorb a heavier bullpen workload than planned, and the timing matters with the Giants next on the schedule.
Brandon Pfaadt has been working his way back after time spent in the bullpen and Triple-A, where the results were enough to keep him in the conversation for a return to the starting group. His next outing comes with real significance for a Diamondbacks staff that has been stretched thin, and the corresponding roster move should tell more about how Arizona is trying to manage the rest of the week. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Keep Embarrassing Themselves In The One Area Posey Preaches Most
For a club that has spent much of the season talking about cleaner habits and sharper execution, the Giants keep finding ways to undercut that message with the same old baserunning sloppiness. It has shown up in recent days in more than one form, from Willy Adames losing track of the outs while chatting with Mookie Betts to rookie Jonah Cox making a similar mistake, which only deepens the sense that this is becoming more than an isolated lapse.
The bigger issue for San Francisco is that these are exactly the kinds of details Buster Posey has said matter most, the little things that should be nonnegotiable on a well-run team. Instead, the Giants are leaving the impression of a club that is not nearly attentive enough in the areas that most reward discipline, and that puts pressure not just on the players but on Posey, Tony Vitello and the rest of the staff to make sure the message finally sticks. [Read more 🡒]