Major League Baseball suspended Washington Nationals starting pitcher Cade Cavalli and Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras seven games apiece on Thursday for their roles in a benches-clearing incident on Tuesday in Boston.
MLB also suspended Nationals right-hander Miles Mikolas for five games and Red Sox outfielder Nate Eaton for three for their actions during the incident at Fenway Park.
The four players each were fined an undisclosed amount as part of the discipline.
The suspensions are scheduled to begin Friday, when the Red Sox visit the Los Angeles Angels, and the Nationals host the Pittsburgh Pirates. The players can appeal the discipline, which will be held in abeyance until the process is complete.
Cavalli, 27, apologized Wednesday for his comment toward Contreras that ignited a benches-clearing fracas in the fourth inning of Washington’s 8-1 win. After the right-hander struck out Contreras, Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said he heard Cavalli yell, “Sit down, boy,” although the pitcher told reporters, “I don’t know. I just lose my head in it. I’m competitive. I just told him to sit down.”
Contreras, 34, had to be restrained as both benches emptied. He later tossed his batting helmet toward Cavalli during the melee and was ejected. Eaton and Mikolas, neither of whom was playing in the game, and Tracy also were tossed out by crew chief and second base umpire Vic Carapazza.
Contreras said after the game Tuesday that he didn’t know if there were any racial overtones to Cavalli calling him “boy.”
“I’m Venezuelan. I don’t know if he’s racist or not,” Contreras said. “I’ll let MLB handle that.”
On Wednesday, Cavalli said he did not mean to use the term in a disparaging way.
“I’m extremely torn up about the way that things were perceived,” Cavalli said. “Obviously, there was no ill intention behind that.”
Cavalli, however, said he understands the racist meaning behind the word he used, even if it wasn’t his intention.
“There’s a history behind that word, and that’s just something that as a competitor, like in football or basketball, playing wiffle ball with my brother, you don’t understand it,” Cavalli said. “And then it gets perceived in a way that was not my intention, and then you learn from that. It’ll never happen again.”
Cavalli, who stayed in the game and earned the victory, is 5-4 with a 3.69 ERA in 90 1/3 innings over 18 starts.
Contreras is batting .283 with 18 home runs and 53 RBIs in 83 games.
Eaton, 29, is batting .174 (4-for-23) with one homer and five RBIs in 11 games.
Mikolas, 37, is 2-7 with a 5.44 ERA, 17 walks and 47 strikeouts in 84 1/3 innings over 18 games (seven starts) in his first season with Washington.
