Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras turned a home run trot into a public prayer for his earthquake-ravaged homeland Monday night, breaking down in tears in the dugout after a moment that had nothing to do with baseball.
Contreras crushed a 421-foot, three-run homer off Nationals pitcher Miles Mikolas in the first inning, flipping his bat skyward and shouting "Venezuela!" to his teammates as he rounded the bases. By the time he reached the dugout, he was in tears - comforted by teammates including fellow Venezuelan Wilyer Abreu, who wrapped him in a long embrace.
"Everything that's going on in Venezuela; it's not easy to hide," Contreras told reporters afterward. "It's not easy just to show up and play with everything that is going on in my country." The 34-year-old, born in Puerto Cabello near Caracas, has watched from afar as twin earthquakes killed more than 1,700 people back home and left tens of thousands displaced.
What made the moment remarkable wasn't just the emotion - it was where Contreras placed it. "The homer just represents something that I pray to God for it to happen, because that's the only thing I can do for Venezuela right now physically. And that's why I was emotional," he said.
Contreras was ejected in the second inning after a disputed check-swing call, but by the end of the night, the call barely registered. His mind, he said, was still back home. He's one of five Venezuelan players on Boston's roster, alongside winning pitcher Ranger Suárez, Abreu, catcher Carlos Narváez, and infielder Andruw Monasterio - a clubhouse quietly carrying the weight of a national tragedy into every game they play.
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