Everything Nationals' Cade Cavalli Said About Fight With Red Sox's Willson Contreras

Washington Nationals pitcher Cade Cavalli and president of baseball operations Paul Toboni spoke Wednesday about the incident that led to benches clearing during a Tuesday night matchup against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

Cavalli said he has not yet reached out to Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras after clashing with him at the start of the brawl, per The Athletic's Spencer Nusbaum.

Cavalli called out to Contreras after a fourth-inning strikeout, which resulted in Contreras throwing his helmet and the benches clearing.

Contreras was ejected after the incident, while Cavalli remained in the game.

Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said after the game he didn't "know why" Cavalli was able to stay in the game after Contreras was ejected.

Cavalli initially described the inciting incident as Contreras brushing him with his arm while walking past the pitcher's mound at the end of the first inning.

Contreras said after the game he had turned to apologize after walking past Cavalli at the end of the first inning.

He also said Cavalli had been "instigating" with his comments in the fourth, per Chris Cotillo of Mass Live.

Contreras could face supplemental discipline from MLB for throwing his helmet, per MLB.com's Ian Browne and Jessica Camerato.

This marked the second straight ejection for Contreras, who was also booted from a Monday game against the Nationals at Fenway following his reaction to a called strike.

The Red Sox star's home nation of Venezuela was devastated last week by severe earthquakes. He said Monday it is "not easy just to show up and play with everything that's going on in my country," per Browne.

Contreras has been a bright spot this season for the struggling Red Sox, which have gone 37-47 as Contreras slashed .280/.374/.529.

The Nationals have a shot at ending up above .500 for the first time since 2019 after a 44-43 start to the season. Cavalli, who leads his team with 18 starts, has posted a 3.69 ERA and 1.328 WHIP over that span.