Torey Lovullo lost his patience in the third inning of the Brewers-Diamondbacks game after home plate umpire Gabe Morales missed several key strike calls. Things boiled over when a borderline pitch wasn’t called a strike, prompting Lovullo to get vocal from the dugout. The Arizona manager stepped up to argue, shouting that Morales had missed seven calls, all against the D-backs. He told him to “lock it in” and “wake up,” then stormed out to the field to make his case directly, knowing he’d likely get tossed. He did. One of the coaches in the dugout confirmed he was ejected while a fan nearby caught the whole thing on video.
The numbers back up Lovullo’s frustration. Brewers pitcher Janson Junk got a handful of strike calls on the edge of the zone. On the other side, D-backs pitcher Drey Jameson had similar borderline pitches called balls. The difference wasn’t just one call here or there. Visual breakdowns showed at least three Jameson pitches that matched strikes previously given to Junk but were called balls. The inconsistency appeared most on pitches around the knees and the outside edge. Lovullo pointed out that if Morales gave the strike at the top and bottom edge of that zone, a pitch in the middle should be called the same, but it wasn’t.
After Lovullo’s ejection, the strike zone seemed to tighten up and get more balanced. It’s not clear whether that was coincidence or a result of his outburst, but the gameplay leveled out. Lovullo knew what he was doing. He had made up his mind to speak his piece and take the ejection if necessary. It looked like it might have helped.