We have our first bench-clearing incident of the 2018 MLB season, and it’s about as odd as it gets. In the second inning of Sunday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo took to the field to argue balls and strikes.
That in and of itself is not the story here. Lovullo was obviously going to get ejected for the first time on the season. It’s what followed that’s pretty shocking. In the midst of Lovullo arguing with home plate umpire Tim Timmons, Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina went after the manager in a big way.
Here’s how it unfolded.
The 1st bench-clearing of the 2018 seaspn features #Cardinals C Yadier Molina and… #Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo?… going at it. pic.twitter.com/e2Y3lZRp93
— Gary Phillips (@GaryHPhillips) April 8, 2018
We’re not exactly too sure what unfolded between the two that led to Molina going after Lovullo and Timmons having to stand guard between the two.
One theory is that Lovullo was upset with Molina seemingly framing pitches early in the game. Interestingly, Lovullo was ejected while Molina wasn’t.
We promise to hear more about the indication once the game concludes Sunday afternoon.