The Boston Red Sox lost 7-6 to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday, but Willson Contreras is getting more headlines than the team's almost-come-from-behind win.
Contreras hit a ground ball to third base as the second batter in extra innings for the Red Sox, trailing by two runs. A run scored on his ground ball, and he was thrown out at first. He was hit with some boos by Red Sox fans for not hustling, and was seen jawing with a fan behind the dugout during the final at-bat of the game and after the game ended as well.
It's safe to assume it had something to do with the play that elicited boos from the Red Sox faithful, but Contreras did not get into specifics.
“He was inviting me to dinner,” Contreras said jokingly after the game, per The Boston Globe's Tim Healey. “I was like, ‘No, I’m good with that.’"
It's normal for him not to want to go into detail about what happened or what led to the altercation in the first place. However, the bigger story is that this is the second time Contreras has been booed for his lack of hustle.
"If you’re a real fan and you know baseball, there’s no case for me to hustle out of the box,” Contreras said after the game. “I’m not 100 percent. We never are, but I’m taking care of my leg. If I have to run, I push a little bit. If I don’t, my manager has my back, and I talk to him, and he gave me the permission just to do whatever it takes to take care of my legs... If I was 100 percent, they wouldn’t boo because I was going to hustle down the line.”
It's unclear when Contreras will be 100% and will start hustling on these ground balls that he may be able to beat out. Hopefully, by the time the postseason rolls around, his hustle picks up.
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