Astros GM explains spat with Pirates during delay: I wanted game postponed

Houston Astros general manager Dana Brown was not happy with how Thursday's rain delay was handled and let his frustrations out on the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The executive appeared to exchange heated words with Pirates manager Don Kelly, other Pittsburgh staff members, and umpires during a rain delay at PNC Park.

Brown said his frustrations stemmed from the game being pushed from 6:40 p.m. ET to 10 p.m. instead of being postponed.

"I would have preferred to bang the game just because of the conditions and the length of time and all of that," Brown said, according to The Athletic's Chandler Rome. "I would've preferred to bang it."

Houston wound up winning the contest 8-2, but it could come at the expense of fatigue ahead of an important road weekend series with the Cleveland Guardians. Brown said the Astros, who are scheduled to play Game 1 against the Guardians at 6:10 CDT on Friday, would arrive in Cleveland "around 3:30 in the morning, if we're lucky."

"That was my concern. We got a lot of schedule left, and so I want to protect the boys," Brown added. "My whole point is to protect the players at all costs. I got a little frustrated.

"If we were here tomorrow, it would've been no problem. The fact we had to get on a flight and go to Cleveland, post in Cleveland against a good team, getting in late. I had my ace going, too, in bad weather. I was worried about guys getting hurt. And I showed it."