The Boston Red Sox first baseman just faced two ejections in two nights. Willson Contreras has been going through a tough emotional phase ever since his country was hit by a devastating earthquake last week. Even the slightest provocation was enough to trigger an outburst, so the entire dugout had his back when the Washington Nationals starter blurted something not-so-nice to Contreras.

“Sit down, boy,” Cade Cavalli shouted at him after striking him out in the 4th inning.

And Contreras fired back, saying, “Are you talking to me? Why are you talking to me?”

The Red Sox were leading 1-0 in the bottom of the 4th, and Contreras was at the plate. The umpire declared the 93-mph fastball from Cavalli as the 3rd ball. But the Nationals reviewed, and the call was overturned. Three pitches later, Willson Contreras was struck out, and just as he started toward the dugout, he heard something from the right-hander.

He started walking towards Cavalli, and the plate umpire, along with Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz, tried to intercept. And before you know it, the benches are cleared, and players are running infield to support their respective teammates.

As seen in clips available, Contreras even attempted to throw his helmet at Cavalli.

That’s when New England Sports Network broadcasters Dave O’Brien and Will Middlebrooks started discussing what was happening.

Middlebrooks said, “He was just seeing red at that point,” whereas O’Brien called Cavalli’s remarks “classless.”

Middlebrooks: “Well, they know he’s emotionally on edge right now with everything that is going on in Venezuela. He’s been vocal and very emotional since all that has gone down.”
O’Brien: “Well, it’s a classless thing to say.”
Middlebrooks: “In no way am I justifying what has happened with Contreras.”

The whole back-and-forth turned into chaos within seconds. And there was a lot of shoving.

It took some time for the officials to pacify the crowd and send them back to the dugouts again. But not before handing four ejections. Miles Mikolas, the starter from last night, was the only Nationals player on the list. Meanwhile, 2B umpire Vic Carapazza removed Contreras, Nate Eaton, and their manager, Chad Tracy, from the game. Willson suffered his second ejection in a row, but Cavalli stayed in the game.

Willson Contreras’ emotionally draining week

Just last night, he hit a 3-run homer to help his side take an early lead. And he shouted “Venezuela,” looking up right after, to send his prayers for the families affected by the earthquake on June 24. In the very next inning, he tried to reflect his disagreement with a check-swing decision. And the umpire ejected him for taking his helmet tap as a sign of disrespect.

Contreras hasn’t been able to recover from what happened in his homeland. The death toll has almost touched 2,000. And it has become too easy to unsettle him, but he isn’t using that as an excuse.

“The thoughts [for Venezuela] are not going anywhere,” Contreras said after Monday’s game. “But at the same time, I know that I have the responsibility here, and it’s my job to perform. To be there for my team. But again, it’s my country. So it hurts.”

Notably, the Nationals catcher was well aware of what Contreras had been going through. And when the teams were going at each other, Ruiz was trying to hold off his Venezuelan teammate even though they were representing two rival franchises.

MLB is no stranger to brawls and ejections. But given the backdrop of Contreras’ emotionally draining week, today’s incident feels a lot heavier.