Tuesday night in Milwaukee was less a baseball game and more a live demonstration of how quickly things can spiral when you’re facing a team that’s hotter than the inside of a car in August, as Pirate coach Don Kelly found out.
Brewers Ride Historic Heatwave
The Pittsburgh Pirates had the unenviable job of trying to cool off a Milwaukee Brewers squad riding the kind of momentum you only see in video games when you’ve secretly turned the difficulty down. The plan? Put phenom Paul Skenes on the mound and hope the heat from his fastball would match the Brewers’ bats. Unfortunately, Milwaukee didn’t just handle the heat — they cranked it right back at Pittsburgh with a 14-0 rout, locking in their second 11-game winning streak in just over a month. Yes, 38 days apart. That’s not a hot streak, that’s a small dynasty brewing.
Coach Ejected Before the Meltdown Was Complete
Now, Pirates skipper Don Kelly didn’t even get to witness the full collapse firsthand — or maybe he was the lucky one. By the fifth inning, Kelly was already back in the clubhouse, sent there courtesy of home plate umpire Roberto Ortiz after an argument over balls and strikes. Let’s be clear: this wasn’t a slow-burning frustration. Kelly had been chirping for a while, but when Jack Suwinski got called out on a pitch that was, let’s say, generously reimagined as being in the strike zone, that was the breaking point.
“Both Ways” Becomes a Final Salvo
Kelly yelled “both ways!” from the dugout — umpire speak for “Hey, maybe try being consistent” — and before he even stepped out, Ortiz had run him. But if you’re already ejected, the baseball code is clear: you might as well make it worth it. So Kelly marched out, delivered a visual masterclass in how far outside the pitch was, and even came close to the sacred baseball taboo of drawing a line in the dirt. That’s an instant ticket out, but hey — once you’ve bought the ticket, you might as well enjoy the ride.
The Brewers didn’t just enjoy it; they turned it into a blowout highlight reel. The Pirates got a lesson in what happens when you run into a team that’s in the business of steamrolling. And Kelly? He at least left with a little moral victory: the crowd — and the broadcast cameras — got their money’s worth.
