{"id":775501,"date":"2026-07-03T01:51:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T01:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/775501\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T01:51:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T01:51:08","slug":"nationals-cavalli-suspended-seven-games-after-sit-down-boy-comment-sparks-brawl-mlb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/775501\/","title":{"rendered":"Nationals\u2019 Cavalli suspended seven games after \u2018Sit down, boy\u2019 comment sparks brawl | MLB"},"content":{"rendered":"

Major League Baseball<\/a> suspended Washington Nationals starting pitcher Cade Cavalli and Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras seven games each on Thursday for their \u2060roles in a benches-clearing incident on Tuesday in Boston.<\/p>\n

MLB also suspended Nationals right-hander Miles Mikolas for five games and Red Sox outfielder Nate Eaton for three for \u2060their actions during the \u2060incident at Fenway Park. The \u200bfour players each were fined an undisclosed amount as part of the discipline.<\/p>\n

Cavalli, 27, apologized Wednesday \u2060for his comment toward Contreras that ignited a benches-clearing fracas in the fourth inning of Washington\u2019s 8-1 win. After the \u200bright-hander struck out Contreras, Red Sox interim \u200cmanager Chad Tracy said he heard \u200cCavalli yell, \u201cSit down, boy,\u201d although the pitcher told reporters, \u201cI don\u2019t know. I just lose my head in it. \u200cI\u2019m competitive. I just told him to sit down.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Willson Contreras was held back by teammates as tempers flared in Tuesday\u2019s game. Photograph: Charles Krupa\/AP<\/p>\n

The term \u201cboy\u201d has a racist history in the United States. Contreras said after the game Tuesday that he didn\u2019t know if there were \u200cany racial overtones to Cavalli calling him \u201cboy\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m Venezuelan. I don\u2019t know if he\u2019s racist or not,\u201d Contreras said. \u201cI\u2019ll let MLB handle that.\u201c<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Cavalli said he did not mean to \u200buse the term in a disparaging way.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy teammates know me, my family knows me, this organization knows me,\u201d Cavalli said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t sleep because of it. It hurt my heart, knowing that, if there\u2019s a 13-year-old Black kid in DC that sees that \u2013 that looked up to me and thinks that he perceived it in a way that wasn\u2019t intended the way that it came out, and then he\u2019s not looking up to me any more \u2013 that hurts my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked, he said he understands the meaning behind the word used.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a history behind that word, and that\u2019s just something that as a competitor, like in football or basketball, playing wiffle ball with my brother, you don\u2019t understand it,\u201d Cavalli said. \u201cAnd then it gets perceived in a way that was not my intention, and then you learn from that. It\u2019ll never happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Contreras was tossed for a second straight game, having mimicked an appeal call after striking out on a checked swing during Monday\u2019s game. He also celebrated a three-run homer off Mikolas in that game with a massive bat flip he later apologized for. He acknowledged he\u2019s been stressed since his native Venezuela was damaged by a pair of devastating earthquakes last week.<\/p>\n

The suspensions are scheduled to begin Friday, when the Red Sox visit the \u2060Los Angeles Angels, and the Nationals host the Pittsburgh Pirates. The players can appeal against the discipline, which will be held in abeyance until the process is complete.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Major League Baseball suspended Washington Nationals starting pitcher Cade Cavalli and Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":775502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,85],"class_list":["post-775501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=775501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/775502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=775501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=775501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=775501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}