Sometimes, you just have to let off some steam. Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo certainly did that on Wednesday afternoon in San Francisco. With emotions boiling over in a tense series finale against the division-rival Giants, Lovullo delivered what could easily go down as his most entertaining managerial tirade of the season.
Arizona was clinging to an 8-6 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning with two outs when chaos ensued. Giants outfielder Heliot Ramos hit a sharp grounder down the third-base line. D-backs third baseman Eugenio Suárez made a solid play to knock it down and fired across the diamond, but Ramos barely beat the throw. What followed left Lovullo and the Arizona dugout completely stunned.
As Ramos was reaching first, Giants baserunner Christian Koss rounded second and collided with rookie infielder Jordan Lawlar, sending Koss sprawling in the dirt. While the Diamondbacks thought they had tagged Koss out on the play, the umpiring crew convened and ruled interference on Lawlar, awarding Koss third base and charging the rookie with an error.
Torey Lovullo steals the show with hilarious “ejection” of Umpires in D-Backs win over Giants
And that’s when, much to everyone’s entertainment, Lovullo absolutely lost it. Storming onto the field, the D-backs skipper didn’t just argue the call — he went all-in and got his money’s worth. After being tossed, he proceeded to point directly at every umpire on the field one by one, theatrically "ejecting" each of them from the game. Of course, the umpires weren’t actually leaving the field (as much as Lovullo might have wished they would). But in the heat of the moment, it was Torey’s way of flipping the script on a series that had felt, from Arizona’s perspective, like the umpires were wearing Giants colors.
While Lovullo’s performance might’ve won him some style points with the D-backs’ clubhouse, cooler heads eventually prevailed. After reviewing the sequence postgame, Lovullo conceded that the umpires actually did get it right.
Lovullo’s memorable meltdown marked his second ejection of the season and the 22nd of his managerial career, continuing a tradition that D-backs fans should come to appreciate over the years. Win or lose, Torey has never been afraid to defend his players and go to battle when he feels his team has been wronged.
In the end, the D-backs held on to win 8-7 and take the series, but it’s safe to say that Lovullo’s animated "umpire eviction" — might just be the lasting image of this latest three-game set.