Braves rally in eighth to beat Pirates

Aug 3, 2006, 2:20 GMT

Pittsburgh, PA - Edgar Renteria's sacrifice fly in the eighth inning scored the go-ahead run as the Atlanta Braves edged the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-2, for the middle test of a three- game series at PNC Park.

Matt Diaz homered for the Braves, who won their second straight. It was Diaz's first homer since May 16.

Horacio Ramirez allowed two runs on five hits with four strikeouts and three walks in 6 2/3 innings. Tyler Yates (1-1) got his first victory with the Braves and Bob Wickman notched his 19th save after a perfect ninth.

'We finally got some slots for guys and it's worked out very well,' Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. 'They've all done a super job and the guys we've had are doing a super job now that they're in the right roles.'

Freddy Sanchez finished 2-for-3 and scored once for the Pirates, who lost their second straight. Paul Maholm allowed two runs on five hits with four strikeouts and two walks in seven innings, but Salomon Torres (3-5) absorbed the loss.

'It was a good outing,' Maholm said. 'It was one to learn from. There were two key spots that I needed to get outs in and they got hits. It's one of those things that makes this a learning process.'

Tied 1-1, Atlanta took the lead in the seventh when Diaz homered to left field on the second pitch of the inning. Pittsburgh tied the game, 2-2, as Jose Hernandez walked and scored on a Jack Wilson single.

The Braves pushed ahead in the eighth. Willy Aybar sent a drive to left-center that left fielder Jason Bay dropped. Aybar was initially given a double but the call was later changed to an error. Marcus Giles followed with a bunt single and Renteria hit the sacrifice fly.

Pittsburgh scored in the fourth when Sanchez lined a single and Bay doubled him home. Atlanta answered in the fifth with two straight doubles by Adam LaRoche and Todd Pratt.

Game Notes

LaRoche left Wednesday's game against Pittsburgh with a strained right hamstring in the fifth inning and is listed as day-to-day. He left after apparently getting injured along the base path.

Atlanta holds a 17-7 edge against the Pirates since the start of the 2003 campaign.

© 2006 The Sports Network