Moments after Diamondbacks’ reliever Ryan Thompson was tagged with a balk and three runs on Saturday against the Colorado Rockies, tempers flared between the Arizona dugout and the entire umpire crew, ending in the ejection of bench coach Jeff Banister in the seventh inning.
In an unbelievable back-and-forth contest — with 24 combined runs through seven frames — Thompson entered with a slim 11-10 lead and left trailing 13-11. In only 0.2 innings, he allowed two singles and two home runs to Jordan Beck and Michael Toglia. The Diamondbacks didn’t recover, falling to the Rockies 14-12.
That end result was frustrating enough, but the final straw actually occurred with one out to Thompson’s credit.
With Colorado catcher Hunter Goodman at the plate, Thompson began arguing with umpires about a disengagement call with shortstop Ezequiel Tovar on first base. The dispute boiled over into the following at-bat — third baseman Ryan McMahon now up.
Before the first pitch was even offered to McMahon, home plate umpire Jordan Baker was heard yelling, “Let it go,” to Thompson who was still incensed about the earlier call. Not more than a few seconds later, Baker turned to the Arizona dugout and tossed Banister.
An argument about disengagements led to the ejection of Diamondbacks bench coach Jeff Bannister pic.twitter.com/E2C471cxq4
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 18, 2025
Banister, who became the D-backs bench coach in 2022, upped his career ejection total to 17. He was AL Manager of the Year in 2015 with the Texas Rangers.
Righty Juan Morillo cleaned up the inning with a ground ball out on first baseman Kyle Farmer.
The D-backs closed the gap with a run in the eighth, as first baseman Josh Naylor doubled to send home catcher Gabriel Moreno. However, Colorado added their 14th run in the ninth and Arizona didn’t manage to score for just the third inning of the game.
Entering the game, the D-backs had never lost when scoring at least 12 runs in their 27-year franchise history.
Arizona manager Torey Lovullo was ejected on Wednesday at the San Francisco Giants, telling the officiating crew they were the ones ejected.
“It’s frustrating, but any game I’d feel the same way,” Lovullo said postgame. “I don’t want to discount what the Rockies are able to do. They’ve got some players that can bang the baseball, and you saw that today.”
The two ball clubs combined for 34 hits, 17 being for extra-bases (seven homers).
Starter Zac Gallen had an unsettling day, surrendering six earned runs (four home runs!) in 5.0 innings pitched. He has allowed at least four earned runs in five of 10 starts this season.
Outside of Thompson’s blunder, Arizona’s lone healthy lefty reliever Jalen Beeks gave up a season-high four earned runs in 0.2 innings pitched. He needed 30 pitches and walked three. The D-back bullpen had the fourth-worst ERA entering Friday and it now sits at 5.09, per FanGraphs.
Instead of completing a three-game sweep, the D-backs (24-22) will be only seeking a series victory on Sunday against the Rockies (8-37), who earned just its third road win of the year.
D-backs-Rockies can be heard at 1:10 p.m. Sunday on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app.
