Morning sports update: Former Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo sparked a bench-clearing incident
The Red Sox improved to 8-1, their best start in franchise history, with an 8-7 win over the Rays at Fenway Park. The Bruins will host the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the playoffs after falling 4-2 to the Panthers on Sunday. The Hawks beat the Celtics 112-106 as Brad Stevens rested his starters in the fourth quarter.
Former Red Sox interim manager Torey Lovullo sparked a bench-clearing incident
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo stepped out of his dugout during Sunday’s matchup against St. Louis to argue a third strike called against Arizona’s A.J. Pollack. The rest of the players and coaches in both dugouts soon followed after the Cardinals’ Yadier Molina took exception to a comment Lovullo made.
Umpire Tim Timmons restrained Molina as he lunged for Lovullo, who served as the bench coach in Boston for four years and stepped in as interim manager in 2015 while John Farrell underwent chemotherapy.
“[Lovullo] called me a m—–f—– twice,” Molina said after the game, per ESPN. “If you’re going to call somebody that, you better be ready to fight.”
Yadier Molina had to be held back after Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo gestured towards him while arguing a call. pic.twitter.com/tGC68gHQBq
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 8, 2018
Lovullo was ejected in his 100th game as Diamondback’s manager. Molina said he hopes the MLB will consider fining Lovullo for his remarks.
“You can’t talk to a player like that,” Molina said. “Or an umpire. You’ve got to be professional.”
After the game, Lovullo said he “probably took things a little too far.”
“The first thing I want to say is I have the utmost respect for Yadier Molina. He’s one of the best catchers the game’s ever seen,” he said.
“I just was going out there to talk about something with the umpire and was referencing something and used a poor choice of words and he took offense to it,” he said. “I wish I could take back what I said but it really wasn’t really directed at him. It was more a term of me saying I respect him on that level that he’s getting certain things because he’s that good.” (ESPN)
New Patriots’ wide receiver Jordan Matthews excited to get to work in New England:
https://twitter.com/jmattjmattjmatt/status/983070215230640128
Giancarlo Stanton goes 0 for 7, strands nine runners in Yankees’ extra-inning loss: The boos were back at Yankee Stadium on Sunday for Stanton. The slugger struck out five times for the second time in a week as New York lost 8-7 to the Orioles. Stanton is hitting .167 and has 20 strikeouts in 42 at-bats. (Boston.com)
Boston, other marathons say trans women can compete as women: Boston Marathon race officials publicly acknowledged that transgender runners can compete using the gender they identify with.
“We take people at their word. We register people as they specify themselves to be,” said Tom Grilk, chief of the Boston Athletic Association. “Members of the LGBT community have had a lot to deal with over the years, and we’d rather not add to that burden.”
Daily highlight:
https://twitter.com/RedSox/status/983088359127035904
