Long before the Diamondbacks dropped their fourth straight game with a 6-3 decision to the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night, manager Torey Lovullo had already conceded defeat. Not to the Cardinals exactly, but he did admit to his own failures to their star catcher, Yadier Molina.
You remember the incident between those two, don’t you?
It happened in St. Louis during the Diamondbacks’ first road trip of the season when, after Lovullo got ejected by home plate umpire Tim Timmons for questioning Timmons’ strike zone, the manager was overheard using a vulgar word in describing Molina. Lovullo was arguing that Timmons shouldn’t let anyone, including one of the game’s greatest catchers, influence his decisions on balls and strikes.
Except Lovullo also regrettably referred to Molina as a “motherf---er.”
That enraged Molina to no end and he charged at Lovullo, causing both benches to clear. Before anything else could get out of hand as the two teams opened their three-game series at Chase Field, the only thing Lovullo wanted to clear Monday night was the air so he could put the issue behind him.
“Once again I’m really sorry about that happening,” Lovullo said during his pregame news conference. “I used a poor choice of words and he reacted that way and he had every right to. I’ve been thinking about it and maybe I’ll get a chance to pull him away and just tell him that face to face.
“I’m sure he’s seen and read some of the things that I’ve said (in apologizing previously), but he’s one of the greatest players ever, one of the greatest catchers ever, so for me to do something like that, I feel it was out of line and I want to make sure at least I tell him that right now and perhaps tell him that face to face.”
Asked if he intended to pull Molina aside before Monday night’s game, Lovullo said, “Yeah, I would like to as soon as possible.”
Sure enough, as the Cardinals were taking batting practice, Lovullo approached Molina and the two men stood and talked for about a minute. Then, Lovullo put an arm around Molina, and Molina responded in kind. After another minute or so of dialogue, their summit ended with what could only be assumed as a friendly mutual fist bump.
Neither man cared to talk very much about their powwow, however.
“(It was) good. Good,” Lovullo said afterward. “I’m going to keep that between Yadi and I.”
Asked if he felt that the matter is now closed and both men can move on, Lovullo said, “Correct. Correct.”
Molina, though, got in the last word Monday night as the Cardinals snapped their four-game skid. He had two hits and 3 RBIs, including a solo home run, and called a solid game for winning pitcher Carlos Martinez. Molina ignited the Cardinals’ four-run first inning with a two-run single to center off Diamondbacks starter Robbie Ray and then blasted his 12th homer deep into the seats in left field during the sixth inning.
BOX SCORE: Cardinals 6, Diamondbacks 3
Molina was hopping mad the last time these two teams met. After his dust-up with Lovullo back in April, an angry Molina told reporters, “If you’re going to call ‘motherf---er’ to a guy, you’ve got to be ready to fight.” He didn’t look entirely happy after Monday night’s game, either, but he at least sounded like a guy who might be ready to bury the hatchet.
“Everything’s in the past,” Molina said. “I’ve got a bunch of respect for him and the organization over there in Arizona, so everything is in the past.”
Jedd Gyorko followed Molina’s homer with a solo shot of his own in the sixth inning off Ray, which spelled the end of the right-hander’s night in his second start since returning from the disabled list with an oblique strain. Ray recovered nicely after the tough opening frame by retiring 12 of 13 batters before surrendering the back-to-back home runs. He left having allowed six runs on nine hits with one walk and seven strikeouts.
“Robbie unfortunately had that 30-pitch first inning and gave up four runs, and I think that really put him in a situation where he was not going to be able to pitch deep into the game,” Lovullo said. “He turned around and reeled off about four scoreless innings and pitched into the sixth and I thought we could move him through the sixth. Unfortunately we couldn’t and I thought that was the difference in the game today.”
Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, who earlier in the day was named the National League’s Player of the Month, continued his torrid hitting on Monday by going 4 for 4 with four singles to raise his batting average to .274. The four hits tied his career high, which he’s accomplished 13 times, most recently on June 6 at the Giants.
Center fielder A.J. Pollock, meanwhile, went 0 for 4 in his first game back from the disabled list after suffering a fractured thumb in May.
“A.J. looked fine, maybe a little bit off timing-wise and rhythm-wise, but I know he was excited,” Lovullo said. “He had some quality at-bats. He just unfortunately couldn’t square up the ball, but once again, getting him back in this lineup, his presence was felt. And the fact that he got through the game and felt fine, that’s a bonus for us today.”
READ MORE:
- Zack Greinke does a lot more than pitch for Diamondbacks
- Game Day: Diamondbacks continue series with Cardinals
Reach McManaman at bob.mcmanaman@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @azbobbymac and listen to him live every Wednesday afternoon between 1-3 on Fox Sports 910-AM on The Freaks with Kenny and Crash.
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