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After missing out on the postseason for five straight years the Arizona Diamondbacks surprisingly won the National League pennant in 2023. Unfortunately Arizona followed that magical season up by missing the playoffs altogether in 2024. And in the early part of this season, the Diamondbacks are six games out of first in the NL West. Clearly manager Torey Lovullo is not immune to the pressure of managing a team in one of baseball’s most competitive divisions. And Lovullo provided an early contender for ejection of the year when he got tossed in the eighth inning of Wednesday’s game.
Now in his ninth season as the Diamondbacks’ manager, Lovullo knows how to fire up his club. But his extended, combative run-in with umpires Wednesday appeared to have more to do with frustration than motivation.
During a controversial moment late in Arizona’s game against the San Francisco Giants, Lovullo came out to argue a call. And he wasn’t leaving of his own volition.
“I told the umpire that threw me out, I said, ‘Look, I’m not leaving the field until you throw me out of the game’ and that’s when he turned and threw me out of the game,’” Lovullo recounted per MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM.
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo refused to go quietly after recent ejection
After getting tossed, Lovullo demonstrably pointed at all four umpires and made a gesture as if he was throwing them out.
“All four of them had to get together and talk about what they saw, right? When they got together, I thought the four of them really missed it. They, for me, all needed to go. I was tried of it,” Lovullo added.
The incident began when the Diamondbacks were unable to get the runner at first on a grounder to third but it appeared they tagged out the runner at second when he came off the bag and stayed on the infield dirt with an apparent injury, While the umps didn’t make the call in the moment, after huddling, they decided the Diamondbacks committed obstruction at second. Both runners were ruled safe.
Lovullo was beside himself. Instead of heading to the ninth with a two-run lead, the inning would continue with two runners on. It certainly didn’t help things that the Diamondbacks let an 8-2 lead slip through their fingers.
Although Arizona did hold on to win 8-7, it’s clear the Diamondbacks still have some scars from recent dramatic comeback victories late in games.
