Pirates broadcaster Greg Brown is apparently not a fan of position players pitching when a game is out of hand.
With the game already out of hand with the Yankees hitting home run after home run, Bucs pitcher Manny Banuelos gave up a grand slam to Aaron Judge in the top of the 8th to give the Yankees a commanding lead.
But they weren’t done. After adding another run in the 8th, the Yankees continued to pound the Pirates in the 9th.
Pointing to a doubleheader on Thursday, Pirates manager Derek Shelton went to infielder Josh VanMeter to pitch in the 9th.
“At that point, the game gets out of hand and we’re down eleven, we’re trying to preserve pitching,” said Shelton.
VanMeter proceeded to give up six runs on eight hits, including another Yankees grand slam from Aaron Hicks after a got a home run derby-like pitch from VanMeter.
The Yankees were now up 14-0.
But the pain wasn’t over yet.
Giancarlo Stanton also took a VanMeter pitch deep to right-center field for a 15th Yankees run.
That’s when Brown had seen enough. Not even calling the play on the television side, the voice of the Pirates simply said, “this is ridiculous.”
After the home run, color analyst Kevin Young said it looked they were watching a softball game.
“It’s a joke,” said Brown.
The Yankees also had 22 total hits in the 16-0 rout of the Pirates, a game Brown would probably like to forget.
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On the bright side, the Pirates did split the two-game series with New York, so there is that.