SAN FRANCISCO -- Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Luvullo again expressed regret over using profanity while pointing to Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina during a discussion with the home-plate umpire Sunday and said he understands fully why Molina was upset.
"I replayed it as many times as possible in my head. I said what I said and made a mistake with some of the wording that I chose," Lovullo said Monday at AT&T Park. "The one message that I want to say is that I respect Yadi. He's one of the best catchers in baseball and has been for a long time.
"I know he was frustrated by what I said and I can't blame him. I probably was giving him more a compliment in saying that he is very good, and I didn't necessarily follow through and execute the right way with my words to tell him that's what I was thinking."
The two men got into a heated exchange in the second inning of Arizona's game in St. Louis, moments after Lovullo was ejected for arguing balls and strikes. During his discussion with home-plate umpire Tim Timmons, Lovullo motioned in Molina's direction and uttered a profane word that set the eight-time All-Star catcher into a rage.
"That's where I'm most disappointed in myself is that I probably should have thought that through a little more clearly," Lovullo said. "I never looked at Yadi or called him that or said it to him. I simply said he is one of the best ever, then I used the two words that everybody's very well-versed on, and 'can't make balls strikes.' That's what I said. That's exactly what I said."