During the Diamondbacks series opener against the Mets on Tuesday, emotions ran high within the New York announcing booth, and it was due to a rather unusual situation.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!At the time, Arizona held a 4-3 lead over the Mets with two outs in the ninth inning.
With the tying runner poised at third base for New York and the potential winning run occupying first, Diamondbacks’ manager Torey Lovullo made a tactical decision. He directed Christian Walker to play deep, effectively conceding Tim Cocastro an extra 90 feet.
This decision by Diamondbacks’ manager Torey Lovullo left Mets’ announcer Gary Cohen somewhat at a loss for words as he yelled, “What are they thinking?! How do you allow the winning run to score at second base? That is as bonehead a managerial decision as I have seen all year long.”
"How do you allow the winning run to steal second base?!? That is as bonehead a managerial decision as I've seen all year long." pic.twitter.com/XZxHKbVfc1
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) September 12, 2023
However, just two pitches later, Brandon Nimmo skied a pop-up to center field, bringing the game to a conclusion and underscoring the significance of Lovullo’s unconventional decision.
According to the Arizona Republic, Diamondbacks’ pitching coach Brent Strom then jumped to Lovullo’s defense and even went as far as calling the Mets’ broadcasting team “idiots.”
“I think [manager] Torey [Lovullo] made a very, very good choice of playing behind Locastro, despite what the really smart Cohen and Hernandez group had to say, because I think they’re idiots for what they said.”
By permitting Cocastro to reach second base, Paul Sewald, the Diamondbacks’ closer, could concentrate fully on retiring the batter at hand.
It is not often that you see a pitching coach and the opposing announcer butting heads.
