Pittsburgh Pirates Sign a new Big Heat Coach form Cincinnati Reds….
The Pirates were not quite able to complete a sweep of the Twins at PNC Park Sunday afternoon, as a Minnesota outburst against Ben Heller in the 10th led to an 11-5 loss.
Should that game have even gone to extra innings? That’s up for debate.
With two on in the first inning, starter Jared Jones went high and tight on a fastball to Byron Buxton that appeared to catch the bat and careen at a different angle. However, it was ruled a live ball, resulting in a passed ball called on Henry Davis and a run scored.
Pirates manager Derek Shelton went out to request if any umpire had that as a swing or a foul ball, and after a convergence of the umpiring crew, none of them had it as a foul. It was a non-reviewable play, too, so there was no reason to burn the challenge on that call either.
Jones rebounded after his three-run first inning to give five frames with no extra damage, but extra innings might have been avoided had that been ruled a foul and the run taken off the board. Davis didn’t want to look at it that way, and he empathized with home plate umpire Ryan Wills having to make the call because the catcher’s glove was right in front of his mask.
