TORONTO -- Frustrations boiled over for the Pirates on Friday amid an eventful sixth inning. Both manager Don Kelly and pitching coach Bill Murphy ejected after the Blue Jays chased ace Paul Skenes during Pittsburgh's 5-2 loss at Rogers Centre.
Murphy was the first to get the heave from home-plate umpire Alan Porter after 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 Blue Jays second baseman Lenyn 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 until after Kelly got his money’s worth.
Another key checked-swing call went the Blue Jays’ way earlier in the inning, when Jesús Sánchez was determined not to have swung at what would have been strike three against Skenes before delivering an RBI double.
After tying the game in the top half of the sixth, the Pirates fell behind, 4-1, after Toronto rallied against Skenes to retake the lead and get to the Pittsburgh bullpen.