Pirates manager Don Kelly said no-no to Jared Jones’ no-no bid, pulling the starting pitcher out of Pittsburgh’s 3-0 loss to the Braves after he threw six perfect innings.
The Pirates played it safe with Jones, who is just getting back after recovering from an internal brace elbow surgery, pulling him despite the fact that he struck out eight of the first 18 batters he faced and didn’t allow a single base runner.
But after six innings and 77 pitches on Wednesday night, he was pulled, even as he tried to sneak by Kelly after coming off the field, much to the amusement of the Pirates skipper.
“Yeah, I was messing around,” Jones said with a smirk about it. “Coming into the game we thought we were going to get five [innings] and the pitch count was low, so they sent me back out there for the sixth. That was all I had tonight. I was just messing around.”
Jones acknowledged the pitch count aspect “does suck” in an instance like this, but said that he “completely understands” the decision to pull him out of the game.
Kelly called the decision to take Jones out of the game a “tough one,” however, the health of a player was at the top of his list of priorities.
“Wanting guys to stay healthy is the number one thing with these guys because we need Jared for the rest of the season throwing the ball like that,” Kelly said. “Trying to push him right now when he’s only had five ups – there’s just no way.”
After Jones exited the game, the perfect outing came to an end, and the shutout ended in the eighth when Joey Bart hit a two-run home run off Dennis Santana.
The Braves added another run in the top of the ninth.
