Derek Shelton was booed loudly when he was introduced ahead of his sixth home opener as the Pittsburgh Pirates manager last month. He shook it off in the aftermath, attributing the reaction to understandable frustration from a fan base weary of a franchise-wide reset that looks and feels stalled.

The man who arrived at spring training saying it was time to win pledged to get it cleaned up. A little over a month later, with the Pirates languishing in last place amid a flurry of missteps both on and off the field, Shelton was out of a job.

Pittsburgh fired Shelton on Thursday, a decision general manager Ben Cherington — who hired Shelton months after taking over the club’s baseball operations in 2019 — called difficult but necessary to salvage a season perilously close to essentially being over before Memorial Day.

“We aren’t performing the way we need to,” Cherington said a few hours after Shelton became the first major league manager jettisoned this year. “We’re not performing in a way that our fans deserve. We know we need to be better.”

The move came with Pittsburgh mired in a seven-game losing streak and languishing at 12-26 overall. Shelton went 306-440 in five-plus seasons with the Pirates. He navigated the ugly early days of Cherington’s rebuild with good humor and grace but struggled to find the right buttons to push on a small-market team that has little margin for error.

Longtime bench coach and former major leaguer Don Kelly will take over for the remainder of the 2025 season, a full-circle moment for the Pittsburgh native. Cherington called Kelly “an elite human being and teammate” with a “teacher’s heart.”

Reds’ ace hurler Green suffers Grade 1 groin strain

Cincinnati Reds right-hander Hunter Greene suffered a Grade 1 groin strain and will be placed on the injured list.

“It’s not terrible,” Reds manager Terry Francona said Thursday. “But it is going to be an IL placement because we need him to miss maybe a start or two.”

Greene threw two warmup pitches prior to the fourth inning during Wednesday night’s 4-3 victory at Atlanta. He felt a pull and was removed from the game.

“You don’t want to miss him for even a day,” Francona said. “But all things considered, he’s going to be OK.”

Greene is 4-2 with a 2.36 ERA in eight starts this season. He has 61 strikeouts in 45 2/3 innings. Greene has averaged 24 starts in his first three seasons in the big leagues and made his first All-Star team last season.

Francona said the team is still weighing its options regarding a roster move and will have more information Friday.

Brewers demote Rodriguez, send Civale on rehab

The Milwaukee Brewers optioned right-hander Elvin Rodríguez to Triple-A Nashville on Thursday, one day after he allowed six runs over 3 1/3 innings of relief in a 9-1 loss to the Houston Astros.

Rodríguez, 27, has an 0-2 record and 8.68 ERA in six appearances with Milwaukee this season. He has allowed seven homers in 18 2/3 innings.

While 10 other NL pitchers also had given up at least seven homers this season heading into Thursday’s games, each of the others had pitched at least 28 innings.

The Brewers also announced Thursday that right-hander Aaron Civale has been sent to Nashville for a rehabilitation assignment as he recovers from a strained left hamstring.

Civale has been on the injured list since making his lone appearance of the season in a 12-3 loss to the New York Yankees on March 30.