{"id":768622,"date":"2026-08-03T05:39:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T05:39:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/768622\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T05:39:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T05:39:15","slug":"diamondbacks-manager-sounds-off-on-his-player-breaking-unwritten-rule-during-perfect-game-bid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/768622\/","title":{"rendered":"Diamondbacks manager sounds off on his player ‘breaking’ unwritten rule during perfect game bid"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a> skipper Torey Lovullo had Tim Tawa<\/a>\u2019s back after a contentious moment Sunday against the Cleveland Guardians<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Guardians starting pitcher Gavin Williams<\/a> had a perfect game through five innings of work against the D-Backs at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio. The 6\u20196\u2033 right-hander sat at 67 pitches when Tawa came up to bat as the leadoff man in the top of the 6th inning.<\/p>\n

Facing an 0-1 count, Tawa squared up to bunt. While the attempt went foul, it didn\u2019t make the move feel any less disrespectful to some of the Guardians players. Catcher Patrick Bailey<\/a> and shortstop Brayan Rocchio<\/a> exchanged words with Tawa, who ended up breaking the perfect game anyway with a single to right field one pitch later.<\/p>\n

Guardians were pissed at the Dbacks after they tried to bunt and end Gavin Williams’ perfect game<\/p>\n

The benches ended up clearing in the pouring rain as the grounds crew tried to get the tarp on the field pic.twitter.com\/Yn27HaqCnS<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 2, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n

The game was paused later in the inning due to heavy rain, but not before a benches-clearing scrum broke out on the field<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While speaking to reporters after the game, Lovullo was asked if <\/a>Tawa had broken an \u201cunwritten rule\u201d in that moment. The longtime D-Backs manager didn\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot even close, for me,\u201d Lovullo responded, via Sports Illustrated\u2019s Alex D\u2019Agostino. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m totally fine with him bunting in the sixth inning of a game,\u201d Lovullo said, speaking with D-backs.TV\u2019s Todd Walsh.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s either black or white for me. I don\u2019t like gray stuff. So [Tawa] asked if he could bunt. We all checked off on it, said absolutely. And they clearly took exception to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lovullo didn\u2019t disparage an unwritten rule, but instead argued about what the rules actually were. He shared that he had a conversation about such a scenario with Guardians manager Steven Vogt in the past, when the latter was still a D-Backs player under Torey. <\/p>\n

The understanding the two supposedly had was that teams \u201ccan do basically anything\u201d through six innings. Anything beyond that and teams staring down getting no-hit or being on the wrong end of a perfect game have to \u201cbe careful\u201d with their decisions. <\/p>\n

Tawa\u2019s hit, however, failed to spark a Diamondbacks comeback. The visitors managed just a pair of hits in a 5-0 loss to the Guardians.<\/p>\n