Astros GM screaming at Don Kelly, Pirates over umpires' decision made zero sense

Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. Sometimes it rains. And sometimes you completely lose your cool on people who don't deserve it in the slightest.

That was the case with Houston Astros general manager Dana Brown, anyway, who seemingly unloaded on Pittsburgh Pirates manager Don Kelly in what looked like a heated exchange during Thursday's rain delay at PNC Park.

The series finale between the Pirates and Astros was originally scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET but was delayed by three hours and 22 minutes due to weather. About two hours into the delay, Kelly and Astros manager Joe Espada met for a discussion behind home plate. Presumably discussing next steps in determining whether the game would be played that night, they were joined by two umpires and a handful of Pirates staffers.

That's when Brown arrived on the scene, visibly heated and seemingly directing his frustrations at Kelly and the Pirates staffers. Brown appeared to grow increasingly agitated as the two sides exchanged heated remarks before Kelly ultimately walked away, returning to the Pirates' dugout.

Astros GM Dana Brown screaming at Don Kelly, Pirates over umpires' decision made absolutely no sense

Listen, we get it. Nobody likes rain delays. But Brown's misdirected outburst seemed especially uncalled for when it's the Major League umpires – not the Pirates – who make the ultimate ruling as to whether a game in a delay will be played or postponed.

Brown revealed after the game that he would have preferred that it be postponed rather than delayed, so as to prioritize the health and safety of his players. But the fact that the Astros were set to fly out that night and not scheduled to return to Pittsburgh this season made the decision more complicated.

“We’re going to get in late, guys will probably get to bed about 3:30 in the morning, if we’re lucky,” Brown said (via Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle). “But that was my concern. We’ve got a lot of schedule left, so I want to protect the boys.”

On one hand, Brown's concerns are valid. On the other hand, the Astros were flying out... to Cleveland. A three-plus-hour delay is never ideal, but that's a 45-minute flight at most. That hardly seems worthy of a toddler-like tantrum.

Of course, the game was eventually played, with first pitch coming just after 10 p.m. ET. The game ended at 12:26 a.m. ET, after which the Astros took a commanding 8-2 victory – as well as a series win – with them to Cleveland. Brown has to be feeling pretty good about the umpires' and MLB's decision to proceed with the game right about now.

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