MLB Hands Out 22 Games In Suspensions For Red Sox/Nationals Brawl

July 02, 2026 ,
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It was "a good old-fashioned donnybrook," as the Washington Nationals' broadcast called it. Nats pitcher Cade Cavalli and Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras got INTO IT earlier this week in a wild, benches-clearing brawl that featured helmet throwing.

MLB has now handed down 22 games' worth of suspensions for the incident.  

Cavalli and Contreras each get 7 games, while Nats pitcher Miles Mikolas gets 5 games and Red Sox outfielder Nate Eaton gets 3 games. 

After Cavalli struck out Contreras looking in the fourth inning of Tuesday's game, the Washington pitcher chirped the Boston first baseman with a "Sit down, boy!" comment that Contreras naturally did not take too kindly. He wound up pegging his batting helmet at Cavalli in the middle of the brawl. 

For his part, the Nats pitcher sounded very sorry for his words, that obviously have racial undertones. 

“I’m extremely torn up about the way that things were perceived,” Cavalli said. “Obviously, there was no ill intention behind that. It hurt my heart, knowing that, if there’s a 13-year-old Black kid in D.C. that sees that — that looked up to me and thinks that he perceived it in a way that wasn’t intended the way that it came out, and then he’s not looking up to me anymore. That hurts my heart.”

Now the seven games out of the lineup will hurt his pocketbook, as well. He's pledged to never use the word "boy" on the field like that again.


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