Extra Bases: Kelly reached 'boiling point' with umpire
In just his second official game as the Pirates' manager, Don Kelly reached a "boiling point" with home plate umpire Clint Vondrak today and was ejected after arguing balls and strikes in the sixth inning of the Pirates' 3-2 loss to the Braves at PNC Park.
Andrew Heaney was in a 2-0 count against Matt Olson when Vondrak looked toward the home dugout and shouted in the direction of Kelly and a group of coaches along the railing after Heaney's second pitch of that inning.
The entire sequence:
One thing about DK is he's gonna stick up for his guys.
— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) May 10, 2025
After the heated exchange, Kelly walked off the field to a round of applause, following which third base coach Mike Rabelo took over the managerial duties.
"Obviously, I just disagreed with a few of the calls along the way, and I'm always going to protect my guys," Kelly said. That was really the extent of it."
According to umpscorecards.com, Vondrak has a 94.1% pitch call accuracy for the 2025 season, which ranks 44th among 84 umpires. However, throughout the early parts of the game, Vondrak appeared to be missing calls:
"I think it was just a boiling point and backing your guys, man," Kelly said. "These guys are going out and competing. We're grinding, going out there fighting and having their backs."
Heaney, who said he doesn't normally like to have "those types of conversations" during the game, said he appreciated Kelly's actions: "I want to go out there and pitch and deal with the circumstances as they are, as they're happening. So I appreciate when I feel like I'm not really in a position to sort of vocalize those things, that somebody can pick up that slack for me."
• Bryan Reynolds was also ejected tonight after disagreeing with this called third strike:
Reynolds exchanged words with Vondrak before walking toward right field for the eighth inning. As he was doing so, he exchanged words with third base umpire Dan Bellino and was thrown out of the game.
• Oneil Cruz was pulled in the 10th after dealing with lower back tightness, Kelly said, and he is considered day-to-day. Kelly said Cruz's back tightened up when the ran to second base in the ninth inning.
• Tanner Rainey, David Bednar, Dennis Santana, Caleb Ferguson pitched four consecutive scoreless innings before Chase Shugart lost it in the 11th.
• The Pirates' lineup struck out 10 times tonight, their third straight game with double-digit strikeouts. Atlanta starter AJ Smith-Shawver had seven of those in 5 2/3 innings.
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THE ASYLUM
Greg Macafee
9:44 pm - 05.10.2025NORTH SHOREExtra Bases: Kelly reached 'boiling point' with umpire
In just his second official game as the Pirates' manager, Don Kelly reached a "boiling point" with home plate umpire Clint Vondrak today and was ejected after arguing balls and strikes in the sixth inning of the Pirates' 3-2 loss to the Braves at PNC Park.
Andrew Heaney was in a 2-0 count against Matt Olson when Vondrak looked toward the home dugout and shouted in the direction of Kelly and a group of coaches along the railing after Heaney's second pitch of that inning.
The entire sequence:
After the heated exchange, Kelly walked off the field to a round of applause, following which third base coach Mike Rabelo took over the managerial duties.
"Obviously, I just disagreed with a few of the calls along the way, and I'm always going to protect my guys," Kelly said. That was really the extent of it."
According to umpscorecards.com, Vondrak has a 94.1% pitch call accuracy for the 2025 season, which ranks 44th among 84 umpires. However, throughout the early parts of the game, Vondrak appeared to be missing calls:
"I think it was just a boiling point and backing your guys, man," Kelly said. "These guys are going out and competing. We're grinding, going out there fighting and having their backs."
Heaney, who said he doesn't normally like to have "those types of conversations" during the game, said he appreciated Kelly's actions: "I want to go out there and pitch and deal with the circumstances as they are, as they're happening. So I appreciate when I feel like I'm not really in a position to sort of vocalize those things, that somebody can pick up that slack for me."
• Bryan Reynolds was also ejected tonight after disagreeing with this called third strike:
Reynolds exchanged words with Vondrak before walking toward right field for the eighth inning. As he was doing so, he exchanged words with third base umpire Dan Bellino and was thrown out of the game.
• Oneil Cruz was pulled in the 10th after dealing with lower back tightness, Kelly said, and he is considered day-to-day. Kelly said Cruz's back tightened up when the ran to second base in the ninth inning.
• Tanner Rainey, David Bednar, Dennis Santana, Caleb Ferguson pitched four consecutive scoreless innings before Chase Shugart lost it in the 11th.
• The Pirates' lineup struck out 10 times tonight, their third straight game with double-digit strikeouts. Atlanta starter AJ Smith-Shawver had seven of those in 5 2/3 innings.
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Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
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