The Pittsburgh Pirates had the unfortunate task of playing a red-hot Milwaukee Brewers side on Tuesday night. Sending Paul Skenes out to the mound did little to provide resistance as things quickly got out of control in the home team's favor. When the dust settled, the Brewers had a 14-0 win and their second 11-game winning streak in the span of 38 days.
Pirates manager Don Kelly wasn't around to see anything past the top of the fifth inning, which may have been a blessing. He was dismissed from the proceedings after arguing balls and strikes with home plate umpire Roberto Ortiz.
Kelly had been chirping about the zone and was pushed over the edge after Pittsburgh'sJack Suwinski got rung up on a pitch well off the outside corner. Now, working behind the dish is hard work but even the biggest umpire enthusiast would have to admit Ortiz missed this one:
Pirates manager Don Kelly let this umpire have it after a called strike three pic.twitter.com/h7bTEehKXP
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 13, 2025
Kelly was technically ejected before he even made it out of the dugout after shouting "both ways" at Ortiz, but he wasn't about to go quietly and confronted the umpire with some stern words and visual demonstration of just how bad he believed the effort to be.
Anyone who has played baseball knows that drawing a line—or even getting close to drawing a line—in the dirt means you'll be watching the rest of the game from somewhere else but there's nothing to lose if you've already been ejected. So kudos to Kelly for really driving home the point and kudos to the broadcast to capture his antics from above. Very compelling stuff.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Pirates' Don Kelly Got Money's Worth Earning Ejection After Ump's Bad Strike Three Call.
