Discipline by MLB for the incident was announced on Thursday, with Nationals pitcher Cade Cavalli and Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras receiving seven-game suspensions, respectively.
Cavalli and Contreras were levied the harshest punishment for having initiated the incident. After striking out Contreras, Cavalli was heard yelling “sit down, boy.” That sparked confrontation between the two before a bench-clearing brawl ensued.
The term “boy” has a racially charged history in the U.S. Contreras, who is Venezuelan, demurred when asked if he felt there was a racial component to Cavalli’s word choice.
“To be honest, I don’t know,” Contreras said, later adding he plans to “let MLB handle that.”
In the immediate aftermath of the incident, three players — including Contreras — and Red Sox manager Chad Tracy were ejected.
Cavalli apologized on Wednesday for his part in the matter and for yelling the contentious phrase.
“I’m extremely torn up about the way that things were perceived,” Cavalli said before the Nationals beat the Red Sox 10-2. “Obviously, there was no ill intention behind that.”
Those two weren’t the only players suspended, however, as Nationals pitcher Miles Mikolas was handed a five-game suspension while Red Sox outfielder was suspended for three games for their roles in the incident.
All four players also received undisclosed fines as part of their discipline.
— With files from the Associated Press