Lovullo sticks up for Carroll as tempers flare, D-backs rally 

PHOENIX -- As soon as he left the dugout, Torey Lovullo knew he was likely going to get tossed, but after watching star outfielder Corbin Carroll get hit with a pitch for the second time in two plate appearances, the D-backs manager wasn’t going to keep quiet.

Carroll, who was named NL Player of the Week earlier in the day and has been a huge reason the D-backs own the best record in the league, was hit on the left forearm by a pitch in the first inning by starter Matt Strahm.

Then in the third, Strahm came inside with a pitch that hit Carroll once again.

While Carroll went immediately to first base, Lovullo came out of the dugout to talk to home plate umpire Vic Carapazza and that’s when things got a little tense.

“I knew going out there that I had no right to go out there and the umpire said to me, ‘I'm going to need to eject you if you don't get off the field right now,’” Lovullo said. “And I said, ‘Well, I'm not leaving,’ and that's why I got thrown out.”

If it had ended right there, it would hardly be a footnote in what turned out to be a taut 9-8 game won by the D-backs, their sixth straight win, but while Lovullo was complaining to Carapazza, Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto let Lovullo know the pitches were not intentional.

As Lovullo and Realmuto began talking, Lovullo was pointing at Realmuto with his finger and both benches and bullpens emptied. No punches were thrown, there was barely any pushing or shoving and order was quickly restored.

"I think it looked a little worse on video than what it actually was,” Realmuto said. “Because he wasn't challenging me at all. He wasn't saying anything derogatory. He was just backing his player up. At one point he was saying, ‘I would do the same thing for you. If you were on my team I'd back you up, too,’ and pointing at my chest. It looked like he was saying something bad to me, but he really wasn't. He was just defending his player."

Realmuto would go on to hit for the cycle and draw a walk in the game.

“I have nothing but the utmost respect for J.T. Realmuto,” Lovullo said. “He is a tremendous catcher. He's a tremendous player in this league. This was me protecting our player and him protecting his pitcher and there was just this disagreement.”

One thing that everyone agreed on was that Strahm was not intentionally trying to hit Carroll with either pitch.

“He was just pitching inside, you know, just a couple of balls got away from him,” Carroll said. “It happens, but [I] definitely appreciate Torey sticking up for me. I think he's just trying to keep his players in the game. I wasn't going to take exception because I didn't feel like there was any intent but, you know, he's just trying to protect his players.”

Even Lovullo didn’t think that Strahm intentionally hit Carroll, but his issue was that he thought both pitches were thrown in spots they shouldn’t have been.

It’s a gray area, Lovullo admitted, and that is where the disagreements stem from in these situations.

“There's a certain space, in my opinion, that's the safe zone to throw in and then there's a not-so-safe zone to throw in,” Lovullo said. “And I felt like it was my job to protect the player. I'll do that every day of the week and just create an awareness that it’s not making anybody comfortable and there's not going to be a good result if this continues.”

For his part, Phillies manager Rob Thomson said he appreciated Lovullo sticking up for his player, but did have an issue with Lovullo exchanging words with Realmuto.

"I do, because I wouldn't do that,” Thomson said. “I wouldn't yell at an [opposing] player."

It was the 17th career ejection for Lovullo, who was asked if he thought he might receive a suspension from Major League Baseball for his actions.

“I'm sure that'll happen, yeah,” Lovullo said. “I'm prepared for that tomorrow.”