The Washington Nationals wrapped up a much-needed road series victory over the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday afternoon, quickly turning the game into a relaxing beatdown on a getaway day. After getting out to a 2-0 lead early, the Nationals never trailed, and ended up winning the game 10-2.
Perhaps the Nationals should thank Willson Contreras, as after the fracas that occurred between him and Nationals righty Cade Cavalli on Tuesday night, the Nationals scored 18 runs in the remainder of the series compared to just 2 from the Red Sox. While the fiery Contreras might have been trying to fire up his team, it had the complete opposite effect, and what we are learning about the altercation now might be an even worse look for the Red Sox slugger.
Willson Contreras provoked Cade Cavalli prior to 4th inning scuffle
As we are now beginning to see after the fact, it appears as if the dust up that happened between the Nationals and Red Sox on Tuesday evening is just a matter of guys letting their competitive natures get the best of them. However, the narrative that was floating around prior to new video evidence being revealed was pretty negative towards Cavalli, mostly sparing Contreras from blame.
Of course, a lot of that discourse came from passionate Red Sox fans, who were wanting to stick up for Contreras after he had been wrongfully ejected the night before unjustly, and was seemingly scapegoated in their eyes again on Tuesday. However, a video posted by Grant Paulsen of 106.7 The Fan showed that Contreras seemingly provoked Cavalli by almost running into him after the final out of the 1st inning.
It adds more intrigue to the story, as a lot of people assumed Cavalli yelling at Contreras to sit down was mostly based on his long home run celebration on Monday night. However, it appears as if Cavalli was fired up due to that near-collision in the 1st inning, something that lingered in the back of his mind as Contreras came to the plate in the 4th inning.
Everything appears to mostly be forgotten now, and the Nationals likely won't see the Red Sox again until next year at the earliest, but it ended up being Cavalli and the Nationals who got the last laugh. The Nationals ace was masterful in a career-best outing on Tuesday, and perhaps he should be thanking Contreras for helping him reach another level of dialed in. Paul Toboni gets the first victory against his former club, and former Nationals prospect Jake Bennett will have to wait his turn to get his crack against the organization that drafted him.
What were your thoughts on the reason for the Cade Cavalli and Willson Contreras fireworks from this past series? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.
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