Diamondbacks’ Torey Lovullo ejected as tensions rise vs. Royals

Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo was ejected from Monday’s 10-4 loss at the Kansas City Royals after tensions rose following a pair of hit-by-pitches.

Royals superstar Bobby Witt Jr. was 3-for-3 and a single shy of the cycle when D-backs reliever Humberto Castellanos hit him in the arm with an up-and-in sinker during the sixth inning. The Royals were up 9-3 at the time, and the beaning came on the first pitch to Witt.

The fans at Kauffman Stadium booed Castellanos for the entire half inning, and Kansas City catcher Salvador Perez had choice words from the steps of the dugout.

The Royals retaliated for the Diamondbacks hitting Bobby Witt Jr. and the umps warned both dugouts

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo was HEATED and got ejected, Salvador Perez had some strong words in the exchange too pic.twitter.com/2m1lr9djfn

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) July 23, 2024

The following frame, Royals relief pitcher John Schreiber plunked D-backs catcher Gabriel Moreno in the midsection to a thunderous applause from the crowd.

Moreno went right to first base, and the umpires gathered. A warning was delivered to both teams.

“I would never, ever endorse hitting another player,” Lovullo told reporters on the D-backs’ postgame show. “I would never, ever do that. So if they felt like there was intent, they should have whacked Castellanos right on the spot. I would have been fine with that. There certainly looked like there was intent from their end, and I felt like their pitcher should have gotten ejected on the spot, as well.”

Lovullo came out of the dugout to speak to umpires Jordan Baker and Brian O’Nora. Lovullo called Perez over to hear what he had to say to the umpires. Soon after, Royals manager Matt Quatraro came out of the dugout to get in between Perez and the action.

Lovullo was immensely animated during the conversation until he walked off the field, as he felt the umpiring crew mishandled the situation.

“One of the umpires had said to me that if it was your player, you would have done the same thing,” Lovullo said. “Does that mean every time Ketel Marte gets hit by a pitch, we need to hit somebody back? We don’t believe in that here. We don’t do that type of stuff here. So I didn’t get a satisfactory explanation.”

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo explains what led up to his ejection, including on-the-field comments to #Royals catcher Salvador Perez.

The ejection came after the Diamondbacks and Royals hit batters with pitches in back-to-back innings, one with Bobby Witt Jr. near a cycle. pic.twitter.com/dzQW8VWUMn

— Bally Sports Kansas City (@BallySportsKC) July 23, 2024

He has been ejected three times this season and 20 during his career.

Quatraro said it was frustrating to see another team talking to his player. He denied intent to plunk Moreno, saying Schreiber throws a lot of sinkers up-and-in.

Quatraro on BWJ: “It’s like he’s playing a different game. Absolutely incredible.”

On the hit-by-pitch: “It’s really unfortunate that he got hit. … He handled it the way he should have. … The unfortunate part for me, it’s hard to see another team talking to your players.” pic.twitter.com/NFaQrtnphe

— Bally Sports Kansas City (@BallySportsKC) July 23, 2024

Witt scored three runs and drove in a trio on Monday, as he hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning off Miguel Castro. He finished a single short of the first Royals cycle since 1990.

Arizona dropped its second straight game after having won six of seven.

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