Updated

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Pirates are down a pierogi.

The team fired one of the people who races in the dumpling-shaped costumes because he criticized the contract extensions given to general manager Neal Huntington and manager John Russell on his Facebook page.

Andrew Kurtz of New Brighton participated in the Pirates' in-game pierogi race — a knockoff of the Milwaukee Brewers' racing sausages — about four times a month.

The Pirates said the 24-year-old Kurtz was already under suspension because of a previous violation of team rules.

An independent minor league team, the Washington (Pa.) Wild Things, immediately offered Kurtz a job as one of its racing hot dogs.