While baseball “fights” are more of a pushing and shoving match, things got chippy during game 1 of the Phillies-Diamondbacks series last night.
Phillies take ‘ring the bell’ to a new level
In the third inning, Matt Strahm would hit D-Backs’ outfielder Corbin Carroll up and in with a fastball. This was the second time that Carroll had been hit in just the short two plate appearances he had gotten. Again, this all took place in the third inning, with the Phillies leading 5-1. The Phillies were running a bullpen game, and do not have beef with the Diamondbacks.
While Carroll was at first base, you could see how calm he was. Showing that he understood it wasn’t personal or intentional. He was even talking to Alec Bohm while on first. It should have been nothing but yet it became a rather big deal, very quickly.
Even though Carroll didn’t seem to mind, his manager Torey Lovullo took offense.He was the only one at the park last night that misread the situation and lost his temper in an instant. The Diamondbacks manager came running out of the dugout screaming. This was to the surprise of pretty much everyone, as it was very clear that Matt Strahm had no intention of hitting Corbin. As everyone looked on, the D-Backs skipper went right after the home plate umpire to argue a non-existent case.
Luvollo got ejected rather quickly and then started to talk smack to JT Realmuto, who looked puzzled at what was happening in front of him. At this point, the top had come off the place, as the benches were emptied and everyone headed to home plate to ensue chaos.
As the benches cleared, it started to get crazy. Torey Lovullo was getting in the faces of Phillies players, like JT and Nick Castellanos. He was trying to get after every member of the Phillies it felt like, and I couldn’t help but watch on TV as he made himself look like a clown.
Typically when managers get ejected, there is a valid reason for their actions. This time it just felt like Lovullo was just instigating.
He was ejected from the game, obviously and both teams were warned. The next batter flew out and it appeared that Matt Strahm may have said something his way. This caused bench player Josh Rojas to get loud on the bench and he was then tossed from the game as well.
While this could’ve been a tactic by the skipper to protect his player and light a spark for his team, Arizona was 40-25 heading into the game. They have the best record in the National League and they are clearly a World Series favorite. If he feels like that is the sort of thing his team needs at this point in the season, then I’m not sure he understands how good they really are.
I would expect Lovullo to be suspended for a few games due to his unwarranted outburst. He might miss the remainder of the series and face a fine. That ruling would most likely come down before the game gets started tonight.
The Phillies will send Zack Wheeler to the mound to try and even the series. And while most of Philadelphia will be asleep as this game kicks off, we shall wait and see what happens next in the desert of Arizona.
More must-reads: