Pirates' Brandon Lowe Shares Frustrations Over 'Sad' Ejection
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PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Brandon Lowe was ejected for the first time in his MLB career, one that he wasn't pleased with whatsoever.
Lowe earned that ejection against the Minnesota Twins at PNC Park on May 30, which saw him depart the game after just four innings, stemming from an argument around an ABS challenge and his reaction following the at-bat.
It was a surprising moment for Lowe, who couldn't believe that it actually happened, but was disappointed with how he felt he let his emotions get the best of him.
“Kind of a sad first ejection, I guess, if we're looking at ejections as a whole," Lowe said postgame. "But yeah, I was just frustrated with myself, and let out my frustration to myself, and got thrown out for it. I didn't even realize that I was thrown out until I was about three-quarters of the way back to the dugout, and saw (Jonny Tucker) kind of pointing towards first base.”
How Ejection Transpired for Lowe
Lowe ledoff the bottom of the fourth inning and challenged a fastball down low on a 1-1 count, tapping his helme to signal to the home plate umpire for an ABS challenge.
Home plate umpire Alex Tosi didn't see the challenge quick enough and eventually turned to Pirates manager Don Kelly, who argued with him that it should've been challenged.
Lowe then flew out in the at-bat, frustrated with himself after he hit the ball and then when he rounded first base, first base umpire Jordan Baker threw Lowe out of the game.
He said postgame that he wasn't mad with the call in the end and that the flyout was his source of frustration, which was why he was surprised that Bake threw him out of the game.
“I thought that I challenged it right away," Lowe said. "The only frustrating part of it was, I didn't get an explanation from the umpire. It kind of went straight to the dugout, but either way, it didn't truly affect the outcome of the at-bat, and I still got to carry on. If this wasn't an ABS year, it doesn't change anything, so I mean, I didn't let it affect anything, but I was just kind of frustrated that it ended in a fly out.”
Brandon Lowe’s challenge was denied. He proceeded to fly out and was immediately ejected pic.twitter.com/tvlPWV3Jgr
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 30, 2026
Don Kelly Supports Brandon Lowe
Despite earning ejections in two games in the past week, Kelly didn't let that stop him from defending his star player.
Kelly showed support for Lowe during the game and also postgame as well, making sure that everyone knew his second basemand didn't do anything wrong.
He went out and argued with Tosi following the missed ABS challenge and then argued with Bake after ejecting Lowe, which Kelly believes came from Lowe's frustration on the flyout.
"That was a total miscommunication," Kelly said on Lowe's ejection. "Jordan did not understand what he was saying and totally overreacted, I thought. Lowe was upset that … he thought he had swung at ball four. Jordan thought he was yelling at the home-plate umpire. It was a total misunderstanding."
Kelly also thought that Lowe challenged in time and that Tosi should've taken it, instead of worrying about what he and others in the dugout thought of it.
"They thought the dugout influenced the call. I disagreed," Kelly said. "I think Alex agreed with me, but they still didn’t let him challenge. I thought it was more immediate and should have been accepted."
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Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.