Willson Contreras Apologizes After Controversial Incidents with Yankees, Nationals and Red Sox

On Saturday, Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras apologized for his role in multiple incidents during games against the New York Yankees and Washington Nationals, one of which led to his own seven-game suspension.

"One thing I want to add, on the record, is an apology for all of the events from last week, all of the things that occurred when the Nationals and Yankees (were at Fenway Park) are very hard," he said, per Mike DiGiovanna of the Associated Press. "It was a very emotional time for me.

"(People) won't understand why I'm apologizing now, but I think it's something that's important for me to do, to apologize because I feel that it was an emotional time, and those situations could have been avoided and controlled and handled better."

DiGiovanna noted Contreras is appealing the seven-game suspension that stemmed from the incident with the Nationals and pitcher Cade Cavalli during Tuesday's game.

While Contreras staring down Yankees pitcher Will Warren did not lead to an escalation, the same cannot be said about the exchange with Cavalli. After the right-hander struck the Boston slugger out, he said something that caused Contreras to throw his helmet.

The benches cleared from there, and Contreras and Cavalli were each suspended seven games. Washington pitcher Miles Mikolas was suspended five games, and Boston outfielder Nate Eaton was suspended three games.

Contreras was actually ejected the previous game as well when he tapped his helmet on the way back to the dugout after he was called out for a failed check swing on strike three:

The incident with Cavalli drew the most attention, and the pitcher explained he didn't have any ill intentions in the aftermath:

As for Contreras' suspension, Chris Cotillo of Mass Live reported throwing his helmet and violating MLB's social-media policy played a role in the decision.

DiGiovanna noted Contreras is from Venezuela, which was hit by multiple earthquakes this past week.

"It's been a really tough week, an emotional week for me," Contreras said. "I hope that (people) understand how emotional it's been. I'll prove myself with my actions on the field moving forward and show them the kind of person that I truly am."

Boston faces the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday and is looking to complete a three-game sweep.