D-backs’ Lovullo, Mathis ejected arguing balls and strikes
Jun 28, 2017, 8:30 PM | Updated: Jun 29, 2017, 12:45 pm
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
All baseball players can ask for is a consistent strike zone.
Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Jeff Mathis and manager Torey Lovullo felt they weren’t getting that Wednesday night against the St. Louis Cardinals. Both were ejected from the game after Mathis struck out looking to end the fourth inning.
Torey Lovullo and Jeff Mathis were just ejected, and Brenly doesn’t mince words is saying their beefs w/ HP ump D.J. Reyburn were justified. pic.twitter.com/WuB92mVSG3
— FOX Sports Arizona (@FOXSPORTSAZ) June 29, 2017
At the time, Mathis was the third Diamondback to strike out looking, but others before him appeared frustrated after taking balls seemingly out of the zone for strikes.
After the game, Lovullo said he believed the home plate umpire was doing the best job he could. He added that the thing that upset him the most was that he didn’t feel Mathis’ ejection was “justified.”
“It takes a lot to get me there, but when I get there, you see what happens,” Lovullo said after the game. “I’m Italian and I get emotional, and you can’t stop that train when it gets going.”
This marked the first ejections for Arizona players and the coaching staff this season, but it wasn’t Lovullo’s first career ejection.
He was tossed in 2014 serving as a Boston Red Sox bench coach.