Red Sox's Willson Contreras throws helmet at Nationals' Cade Cavalli during bench-clearing brawl

Tensions spilled over from there, including Contreras appearing to throw his batting helmet toward Cavalli and Washington pitcher Miles Mikolas seemingly charging toward Contreras at one point during the scrum. That moment seemed particularly pointed since Contreras and Mikolas were teammates for three seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals.

In the end, Contreras, Mikolas and Boston outfielder Nate Eaton were ejected for their parts in the melee. Also, Boston interim manager Chad Tracy was ejected for continuing to argue with the umpires after order had been restored.

Cavalli was not ejected and ended up throwing 7.0 innings, allowing just one hit and one run and striking out 13.

Some of the tension between Mikolas and Contreras could have spilled over from Monday night when the Boston first baseman hit a three-run homer off Mikolas in the first inning. However, he was ejected following his next at-bat when he questioned a check swing that resulted in a strikeout.

Contreras has a history this season of ejections, including in April when he said he would "take someone out" if the Milwaukee Brewers hit him with another pitch. He was plunked prior to that for the 24th time by a Milwaukee pitcher.