Benches clear, four ejected, Connelly Early injured as Red Sox fall 8-1 to Nationals

The Red Sox entered Tuesday night’s game against the Nationals riding a season-high five-game winning streak and an impressive run of 12 consecutive quality starts from their rotation.

By night’s end, both streaks were over.

A benches-clearing incident that resulted in four ejections, an early exit for left-hander Connelly Early because of elbow discomfort, and a quiet night from the offense proved too much to overcome as the Nationals rolled to an 8-1 victory at Fenway Park.

With the Red Sox leading in the fourth inning, tempers flared after Nationals starter Cade Cavalli struck out Willson Contreras looking to end the inning.

As Contreras walked back toward the dugout, Cavalli appeared to direct words in his direction. The exchange quickly escalated, with Contreras turning back toward the mound and jawing with the Nationals right-hander before both benches and bullpens emptied onto the field.

During the confrontation, Contreras hurled his batting helmet toward Cavalli, but it instead struck Nationals first baseman Andrés Chaparro.

Once order was restored, the umpiring crew ejected Contreras, Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy and Nate Eaton, along with Nationals veteran Miles Mikolas, who had left the Washington dugout during the altercation.

The ejection was another dubious first for Contreras. He became the first player in Red Sox history to be ejected in consecutive games and the 11th ejection of his major league career.

Contreras entered Tuesday’s game less than 24 hours after one of the most emotional nights of his career.

In Monday’s series opener against Washington, the Red Sox first baseman blasted a three-run homer off Mikolas in the first inning before breaking down in tears in the dugout, overcome with emotion as he thought about the devastating earthquakes that claimed more than 1,700 lives in his native Venezuela.

His night later took another turn when first-base umpire Nic Lentz ejected him after he tapped the top of his helmet in a mock Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) challenge following a called third strike on a checked swing.

The other major storyline was the loss of Early, who appeared to be on his way to extending Boston’s remarkable run of starting pitching before leaving after four scoreless innings with left elbow discomfort.

The rookie left-hander threw 61 pitches, 38 for strikes, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out five. He exited before the start of the fifth inning, bringing the Red Sox’ streak of 12 consecutive quality starts to an abrupt end.

The streak was Boston’s longest since 1988 and one of the driving forces behind the club’s recent surge.

Early has been one of the Red Sox’ most consistent starters this season, compiling a 7-5 record with a 3.44 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and a .235 opponents’ batting average over 17 starts. He has also recorded 93 strikeouts against 34 walks in 91 2/3 innings.

If Early is forced to miss significant time, the Red Sox do have a few internal options.

Brayan Bello is a candidate to return from Triple-A Worcester if the organization believes he has ironed out the mechanical issues that led to his demotion. Another possibility is Patrick Sandoval, who is scheduled to make another rehab start this weekend and appears to be closing in on his return from injury.

In the short term, however, the Red Sox are expected to recall left-hander Alec Gamboa from Worcester to provide immediate pitching depth while they evaluate Early’s status.

The Red Sox scratched across the game’s first run in the bottom of the first inning.

Anthony Seigler continued his torrid stretch by leading off with a double to left field. He advanced to third on a groundout before scoring when Nationals third baseman Curtis Mead couldn’t handle Contreras’ routine chopper, allowing the first baseman to reach on an error.

Since being promoted from Triple-A Worcester, Seigler has injected energy into Boston’s lineup. His first-inning double extended his career-high hitting streak to eight games. 

After Seigler’s leadoff two-bagger, however, Cavalli completely shut down the Red Sox offense.

The right-hander retired 21 of the next 22 Boston hitters, with Contreras’ reach-on-error standing as the lone exception. Cavalli was dominant, striking out a career-high 13 over seven innings of one-hit baseball. He didn’t issue a walk and threw 73 of his 100 pitches for strikes.

Cavalli made history with his dominant outing, becoming the first Nationals pitcher since Max Scherzer on April 14, 2018, against the Rockies to throw at least seven innings, strike out 10 or more batters and allow one hit or fewer.

Following the benches-clearing altercation in the fourth inning, the Red Sox unraveled while Washington’s offense came to life.

After Early exited with left elbow discomfort, Danny Coulombe took over in the sixth and immediately ran into trouble. Daylen Lile greeted him with a first-pitch single before Keibert Ruiz drew a walk. James Wood followed with a sharp single to right, but Wilyer Abreu, Tsung-Che Cheng and Caleb Durbin combined for a perfect relay to cut down Ruiz at third base. Lile still scored on the play, tying the game at 1-1. Greg Weissert limited the damage by striking out Luis García Jr. to end the inning.

The Nationals grabbed the lead an inning later.

Pinch-hitter José Tena led off the seventh with a single and moved to second after Weissert walked Nasim Nuñez. Justin Slaten entered in relief but couldn’t stop the rally. Ruiz jumped on the first pitch he saw, lining an RBI single to center to put Washington ahead 2-1.

Two batters later, García drove a fly ball off the Green Monster that just eluded Jarren Duran’s leaping attempt. 

The ball scraped the wall for a two-run double, extending the Nationals’ lead to 4-1. Duran crashed hard into the Monster on the play and appeared shaken up, but remained in the game.

It marked the fifth time since May 26 that Slaten had allowed multiple runs in an appearance.

Washington put the game away in the eighth against Tommy Kahnle.

CJ Abrams launched an 88.7 mph changeup 402 feet into the right-center field seats before the Nationals kept the pressure on. Kahnle walked Tena, surrendered a single to Lile and watched Nuñez reach on a fielder’s choice. Back-to-back RBI doubles from Ruiz and Wood capped a four-run inning and stretched Washington’s lead to 8-1.

Boston finally put together another threat in the bottom of the eighth when Romy González and Durbin opened the inning with consecutive singles, ending a stretch in which Cavalli had retired 21 of the previous 22 hitters. The rally quickly fizzled, however, as Carlos Narváez grounded into a double play and Cheng flew out to right.

Ryan Watson tossed a scoreless ninth inning but the damage had already been done. Zach Kent worked around Abreu’s two-out single in the bottom half to secure the Nationals’ victory.

The series concludes Wednesday afternoon at Fenway Park. Boston will send left-hander Payton Tolle (4-5, 2.78 ERA) to the mound against Nationals lefty Andrew Alvarez (1-1, 3.44 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. before the Red Sox depart for a nine-game, three-city road trip beginning in Anaheim.