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Ketel Marte’s teammate aims NSFW rant at MLB after White Sox fan’s taunts
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- Ketel Marte’s teammate aims NSFW rant at MLB after White Sox fan’s taunts
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The post Ketel Marte's teammate aims NSFW rant at MLB after White Sox fan's taunts appeared first on ClutchPoints .
The Arizona Diamondbacks traveled to Chicago to face the Chicago White Sox in a three-game series and won the first two games. However, the story of Tuesday's game was that a White Sox fan shouted derogatory comments about Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte 's deceased mother. The comments left Marte in tears near the end of the seventh inning.
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Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo put his arm around Marte during a pitching change in the bottom of the seventh inning. Many of Marte's fellow Diamondbacks teammates were furious that the exchange happened. Shortstop Gerald Perdomo went on an expletive-laced rant, explicitly calling out the MLB to police its fans more .
"That can't happen," Perdomo said. "Everybody knows how Ketel is. He's fun. He plays the game hard. I feel bad for him. I feel mad about it. I hope MLB can do something with that guy. I don't know who it was, but they've got to do something. We can't continue to do that (expletive) here in MLB."
Marte's mother, Elpidia Valdez, passed away from a car accident in the Dominican Republic back in 2017. Marte also talked to her on the phone just before the accident happened.
Lovullo said that the comments were made when Marte went up to bat at the top of the seventh inning, and both he and bench coach Jeff Banister asked to remove the fan. He was promptly kicked out.
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Lovullo and Marte's teammates had their backs, and their care and anger for their teammate bled through in the postgame media availability.
The Diamondbacks manager said he heard directly what the fan said and instantly looked over at Marte.
"I looked right at him when I heard," Torey Lovullo said. "I looked right at him, and he also looked at the person. He put his head down, and I could tell it immediately impacted him."
He also tried to console Marte when he saw how sad he was at the bottom of the seventh.
"I just reacted as a dad would when I went out to change pitchers," Lovullo said. "I could see he was sobbing. It hurt."
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He continued: "(I told him), 'I love you, and I'm with you. We're all together, and you're not alone. No matter what happens, no matter what was said or what you heard, that guy is an idiot. It shouldn't have an impact on you."
Game three in the series was during the day on Wednesday, and the White Sox and their fans came out to show their support for Marte on the video board and with signs.
Related: Diamondbacks' Torey Lovullo doubles down on Ketel Marte support after emotional moment
Related: Ketel Marte left in tears after White Sox fan's taunt about late mother
