Diamondbacks' Torey Lovullo 'Digging Himself' After Strategic Game 2 Move Against Texas Rangers' Bruce Bochy

The managers of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers, Torey Lovullo and Bruce Bochy, both have their clubs in position to win the World Series.

PHOENIX — Bruce Bochy has 13 World Series victories. Torey Lovullo has one.

Lovullo got his first Saturday in Game 2 of the World Series, as his Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Texas Rangers 9-1. The series is tied 1-1 going into Game 3 on Monday night at Chase Field.

Now, Bochy and Lovullo have experience against each other. Before Bochy stepped away from the game after the 2019 season, the pair managed against each other often from 2017-19 in the National League West. Bochy was with the San Francisco Giants then.

But, on the biggest stage, there’s a part of Lovullo that still sees Bochy as something a bit more than just a colleague.

Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy owns three World Series titles won with the San Francisco Giants / Andrew Dieb-USA TODAY Sports

“It’s always an honor for me to be on the same field as him,” Lovullo said Sunday. “I met him at home plate after introductions (in Game 1), and he's like, ‘Hey, Torey, this is awesome. It's pretty cool, isn't it?’

“And for us to have a minute like that, it was probably matter of fact to him. It meant a lot to me. A, that he knew my name. And B, that we had a moment where we were talking about it being fun.”

Bochy returned that respect when a reporter told him about Lovullo’s words.

“I think you have to look at him, that style of baseball that they play,” Bochy said. “I've had a chance to manage against him for a while. He's on top of everything. He does everything well.”

That included an inside baseball moment in the eighth inning of Game 2.

With Rangers right-hander Chris Stratton pitching, Lovullo went to pinch-hitter Pavin Smith. That brought a left-hander in to face Stratton. That compelled Bochy to bring in Martín Pérez, a left-hander, to face Smith. During the warm-up, Lovullo then brought in right-handed pinch hitter Emmanuel Rivera to face Pérez. Rivera drew a walk and the D-backs ended up with a three-run inning.

Did Lovullo outsmart Bochy? Well, he’s not so sure.

“Yeah, I was kind of digging myself on that for a second or two,” Lovullo said. “But he knew it. He knew what my move was going to be before I knew what my move was going to be. But we had a favorable matchup, and I, of course, was going to utilize that.”

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.

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