NATIONAL LEAGUE Pirates rally to split twinbill with Braves

Pittsburgh won the nightcap 5-3 after losing the opener 3-2 in 10 innings.
ATLANTA (AP) -- Craig Wilson hit a three-run homer and Mark Corey struck out Chipper Jones with the bases loaded in the sixth inning as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Atlanta Braves 5-3 Friday to split a doubleheader.
In the opener, Jones homered off Corey with one out in the 10th inning, giving the Braves a come-from-behind 3-2 victory.
Wilson's home run off Shane Reynolds (11-8) capped a four-run first for the Pirates in the second game, and they hung on to stop a three-game losing streak.
Reggie Sanders, who hit a go-ahead homer in first game, added an RBI double in the first.
Corey saves nightcap
Corey preserved the victory in the sixth, coming in with no outs and the bases loaded, with Pittsburgh leading 4-2.
Pinch-hitter Javy Lopez lined out to shortstop for the first out, and Rafael Furcal drove in Darren Bragg with a fielder's choice, making it 4-3. Corey walked Marcus Giles to bring Jones to the plate.
After a 75 mph pitch broke over for strike two, Corey struck out Jones with a high fastball, ending the threat.
Corey (1-2) went three innings and struck out three, and Julian Tavarez pitched the ninth for his fifth save in seven chances.
Pinch-hitter Jeff Reboulet homered in the ninth to make it 5-3. Atlanta then loaded the bases again in the ninth, but Tavarez got Matt Franco to hit into a double play, then retired Johnny Estrada on a grounder to first.
Braves regulars sit nightcap
In the second game, Atlanta manager Bobby Cox sat several of his regulars, including Gary Sheffield. September callup Ryan Langerhans got the first start of his career in place of Sheffield in right, and Lopez, center fielder Andruw Jones and third baseman Vinny Castilla also got the night off.
Sheffield pinch hit for Langerhans in the sixth and drew an intentional walk that loaded the bases, then left for pinch-runner Mike Hessman. Andruw Jones struck out against Corey in the eighth as a pinch hitter.
Reggie Sanders gave the Pirates a 2-1 lead in the first game with a homer off Horacio Ramirez in the seventh, and Atlanta tied it on a two-out single by Vinny Castilla in the eighth that scored Jones.
Jones led off the eighth with a single, then tagged up on a deep flyout to center by Andruw Jones. He narrowly beat the throw to second by Tike Redman, and after a groundout by Javy Lopez moved Chipper Jones to third, he scored easily on Castilla's hit.
"He's a superstar that doesn't mind getting dirty," Pittsburgh manager Lloyd McLendon said of Chipper Jones. "He tagged up on a routine fly ball. Chipper did it all. He won the ballgame for them."
Then Jones won it with his homer in the 10th.
"I saw a changeup really good out of his hand," Jones said. "I just got enough of it, from what I hear. Better to be lucky than good."
Cunnane gets win in opener
Will Cunnane (1-1) pitched a perfect 10th, striking out the side on 11 pitches.
The ending spoiled a brilliant pitching duel between Ramirez and Oliver Perez, who lasted only 21/3 innings in his previous start, also against Atlanta. In that one, he walked five and allowed six runs on four hits.
That was his debut with the Pirates; he joined the team in the trade that sent Brian Giles to the San Diego Padres.
But he went seven strong innings this time and allowed six hits and one run. He struck out six. The Braves left eight runners on against him -- Javy Lopez accounted for five. He struck out with two on in the first, then lined into a double play with the bases loaded in the third.
Ramirez also had struggled of late, going nearly two months without a win until beating the Pirates in his previous start.
He was on top of his game Friday, pitching nine innings for the second time this year and giving up just three hits -- two singles to Jeff Reboulet to go with Sanders' homer. At one point, he retired 23 of 25 batters.
"I never doubted myself, but it's really nice to have a game like this, to go out there and throw nine innings," Ramirez said. "If we had lost, it would have been tough.
"But I had total confidence in the offense. I knew we were going to win. It was only a matter of time."