Torey Lovullo claimed his Diamondbacks were being framed.
The Arizona manager set off a benches-clearing incident in a 4-1 victory over the host St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday by maintaining eight-time All-Star catcher Yadier Molina was earning unwarranted strike calls.
"I don't want to say he is getting more than anyone else, because it's part of the game," Lovullo said. "I have the upmost respect for Yadier Molina. He's one of the best catchers the game has ever seen. It was more of me saying, I respect him on that level, that he's getting special things because he's that good."
Lovullo was ejected by umpire Tim Timmons in the second inning. Lovullo was arguing a called third strike on A.J. Pollock and got into a shouting match with Molina. The catcher appeared to lunge at Luvollo and made contact as players ran onto the field.
St. Louis manager Mike Matheny stepped between Molina and Lovullo.
Lovullo had shown displeasure on a strike three call to David Peralta in the first inning, then went to the umpire after the call against Pollock.
"I used a poor choice of words and [Molina] took offense to it," Lovuollo said. "I wish I could take back what I said."
Molina remained upset after the game. "He said a bad word to me and I reacted that way," Molina said. "He called me [it] twice. You can't allow that."
