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Willson Contreras breaks down in tears after home run, gets ejected the next inning

Willson Contreras argues with an umpire after getting ejecting in the second inning against the Washington Nationals at Fenway Park. Jaiden Tripi / Getty Images

BOSTON — In the span of two innings, Willson Contreras hit a monstrous three-run homer for the Boston Red Sox, broke down in tears in the dugout with his native Venezuela on his mind, and then was ejected the following inning after striking out for tapping his helmet.

Throughout his career, Contreras has played with emotion.

But this past week has been particularly tough for Contreras, who’s been raising money for Venezuelan earthquake victims and speaking passionately about his home country. Contreras has the letters “VZ” embroidered on his hat, as do fellow Venezuelan teammates Wilyer Abreu, Carlos Narváez and Ranger Suarez, who started Monday’s game. The Red Sox have five Venezuelans on their roster, including utility man Andruw Monasterio.

“He’s going through a lot,” interim manager Chad Tracy said of Contreras. “They all are.”

Venezuela was hit by 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes on Wednesday. The death toll released by the Venezuelan government is over 1,700 and is expected to rise.

With the Red Sox trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the first, Contreras crushed a 421-foot homer over the wall in left field at Fenway Park to take the lead. He threw his bat with force and screamed “Venezuela” as he ran to first base.

“I think it’s just the emotional part of Venezuela that got to me, got the best out of me,” Contreras said after a 6-3 win over the Washington Nationals, a season-high fifth win in a row for the Red Sox. “I wasn’t feeling good the whole day, I was kind of down, sad and I hit a homer, of course. I tried to help my dugout, but the first thing that I said was it’s for Venezuela. Of course, I’m helping the team to win, and it’s good, but I think every homer from now on is going to be for the Red Sox and for Venezuela.”

Willson Contreras OVER THE MONSTER 😤 pic.twitter.com/Dn4xtRUEOD

— MLB (@MLB) June 29, 2026

Back in the dugout, Contreras sat on the bench and broke down, his head in his hands. Abreu and Narváez came over to hug him, as did interim manager Chad Tracy.

Willson Contreras was emotional after his HR 💛 pic.twitter.com/kLHDWqf9hZ

— NESN (@NESN) June 29, 2026

But in the bottom of the second, Contreras came to the plate again, this time striking out on a check swing. Frustrated by the call, he tapped the top of his helmet as if to sarcastically challenge it as he walked back to the dugout.

First base umpire Nic Lentz seemed to take exception to the gesture and ejected Contreras. Tracy ran out for an explanation before Contreras joined him, but Lentz didn’t relent.

“Willson tapped his helmet as a gesture, like, “Hey, can we check?” you know, jokingly check the check swing, which we know you can’t,” Tracy said. “So (Lentz) felt like he showed him up and threw him out of the game. I didn’t even know until I got out there kind of what was going on.”

Lentz offered his own explanation through a pool reporter.

“I called him out on appeal for the check swing, and as he was walking back to the dugout, he started gesturing, tapping his helmet, like he wanted to challenge something that is not a challengeable call,” Lentz said. “And so, disrespect, and again gesturing towards what he thought was an incorrect call, got him removed from the game.”

Lentz said it’s an automatic ejection if an umpire deems a player is mocking him.

“Correct,” he said. “It’s a lot like drawing a line in the dirt.”

Contreras was surprised by the ejection given he felt he has a good relationship with Lentz.

“Man, kind of surprising,” Contreras said. “Nick and I have a really good relationship. We had a really good talk right before the game. He also mentioned Venezuela, which is good for him to know about it. I think it kind of surprised me because I never made eye contact with him.”

Contreras said he wasn’t tapping his head in reference to Lentz.

“I was like, yeah, I didn’t make eye contact with you, I didn’t argue, I didn’t yell, I didn’t do nothing wrong,” Contreras said. “He told me, yeah, but I have to throw you out. I was like, you didn’t have to, but you made that choice. That’s it.”

Willson Contreras was tossed by 1B Ump Nic Lentz for tapping his helmet walking back to the dugout. Absolutely insane. What a power trip. pic.twitter.com/kgRgUsU532

— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) June 29, 2026

Willson Contreras with one of the weirdest ejections I've ever seen. He even came back on the field and had a full conversation about it. pic.twitter.com/xIDasGlSRL

— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) June 29, 2026