Red Sox slugger Willson Contreras offers emotional apology for role in bench-clearing incidents

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras offered an emotional apology for his involvement in a pair of bench-clearing incidents against the New York Yankees and Washington Nationals this past week.

Contreras, who is appealing the seven-game suspension he received from Major League Baseball for his part in a heated dispute with Nationals pitcher Cade Cavalli Tuesday night, had just finished addressing reporters about his All-Star snub when he continued to speak through his interpreter in Spanish.

“One thing I want to add, on the record,” Contreras said before Saturday night’s game against the Los Angeles Angels, “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. 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.”

Benches cleared when Contreras stared down Yankees starter Will Warren last weekend, but the incident did not escalate.

But Tuesday night, when Cavalli shouted at Contreras after striking him out looking at a full-count pitch, Contreras threw his helmet at Cavalli and approached him on the mound. The two began jawing at each other, and both dugouts and bullpens emptied.

Contreras, who hit a three-run homer in the first inning Saturday night–his 19th of the season–fought back tears as he processed the fallout from his on-field turmoil and the struggles of his native Venezuela, which was hit by two powerful 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.”

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