Bucs' tempers flare as Murphy, Kelly tossed amid tense 6th

TORONTO -- Frustrations boiled over for the Pirates on Saturday amid an eventful sixth inning. Both manager Don Kelly and pitching coach Bill Murphy were ejected after the Blue Jays chased Paul Skenes during Pittsburgh's 5-2 loss at Rogers Centre.

The ejections were a buildup of multiple checked-swing calls throughout the decisive inning, starting with Jesús Sánchez’s determined no-go with two strikes and two runners on.

“We’re in a big moment right there with Paul in that inning, and [I] thought that Sánchez had check swung and went for sure at that ball,” Kelly said postgame. “Just felt like it was a big moment in the game, and obviously didn’t agree with the call.”

Sánchez delivered a key blow later in the at-bat, driving in a run with a double down the right-field line to score the first of Toronto's four runs in the inning that allowed the Blue Jays to retake the lead.

“I thought [Sánchez] went,” Skenes said. “But I never argue those because I have probably the worst view on the field of it. … It’s the same reason I don’t challenge pitches, because I don’t have the best view of it. So, I don’t know. I haven’t watched it again, but obviously, they got tossed later in that half and were pretty upset over it.”

Kelly and Murphy stayed in the game for another two batters, but things reached a tipping point with Lenyn Sosa at the plate.

With the sting of the Sánchez call lingering, Murphy was the first to get the heave from home-plate umpire Alan Porter. Murphy continued to argue after catcher Henry Davis challenged an 0-1 pitch -- a call that was eventually overturned, but only after some confusion on the field as to whether the challenge was granted.

Kelly’s night came to an end just one pitch later, when Sosa was ruled not to have swung after an appeal to first-base umpire Willie Traynor. Pittsburgh’s skipper yelled at both Traynor and Porter from the dugout before earning his second ejection of the season and sixth of his career.

Kelly didn’t go quietly, though, leaving the dugout to argue with Porter, and gesturing to both the first- and third-base umpires before he was escorted off the field.

Sosa struck out to end the inning two pitches later, but not before the Pirates lost their manager and pitching coach, and surrendered what turned out to be the winning runs.