Bucs rally to topple Braves, 5-3

Wednesday, August 23, 2006 Atlanta fell 61/2 games behind in the wild card race. ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Braves keep talking about the need for a long winning streak instead of putting one together. Freddy Sanchez and Jason Bay hit consecutive run-scoring singles in the eighth inning Tuesday night, rallying the Pittsburgh Pirates past the Braves 5-3. "I thought we had the game," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. Not quite. Atlanta, which wasted a 2-1 lead, dropped 61/2 games behind Cincinnati, the NL wild card leader. Following 14 straight division titles, the chances of making the playoffs are dwindling for the Braves (59-66). Atlanta hasn't strung together three straight home wins since May 15-18, when the Braves won four straight at Turner Field. The home frustrations come one year after the Braves tied for the NL's best home record at 53-28. With Tuesday night's loss, they are 26-32 at Turner Field, the second-worst home mark in the NL. "Regardless of whether it's at home or on the road, it's a loss, but the home thing is frustrating," Braves first baseman Adam LaRoche said. "We've all said that. Losing at home can be a little harder." Rare road win Even with the win, the Pirates have the NL's worst road record at 16-48. The Pirates had lost eight of their previous nine road games. "It seems like lately things are just not going our way at home," LaRoche said. "It seems everything goes their way — pitching, timely hitting, everything." Danys Baez (5-6) gave up one-out walks to Chris Duffy and Jack Wilson in the eighth, and Sanchez and Bay followed with consecutive singles that put the Pirates ahead 3-2. Sanchez and Bay had been a combined 0-for-13 in the series before their hits — both grounders to right field. "I was looking for the ground-ball double play," Baez said. "Those ground balls found the holes. I felt great on the mound. It was just one of those nights. You can throw the right pitches and the ball goes in the hole. There's nothing you can do about it." Cox said Baez was sweating so heavily the ball was wet when he took it from the reliever. "It's hard to throw the ball when it's wet," Cox said. "I think that had something to do with it." Xavier Nady and Ronny Paulino added RBI singles for a 5-2 lead. "I don't look at it as wins on the road or wins at home," Sanchez said. "We set ourselves up to try to win the series." Rare win Damaso Marte (1-7) earned his first win since May 24, 2005, by recording one out in the seventh. He had lost his previous eight decisions. Martin Prado hit an RBI single in the eighth off Matt Capps — the rookie's third RBI in two games since his recall — and Mike Gonzalez pitched a perfect ninth for his 22nd save without a blown opportunity. Jose Bautista hit an RBI double in the fifth, but Tony Pena Jr. tied it in the bottom half with his first major league homer in 21 at-bats. Following Pena's homer, Shawn Chacon walked the bases loaded before Brian McCann hit into a double play. Marcus Giles, who missed his fifth straight start with a bruised left hand, led off the seventh inning with a pinch-hit double off John Grabow and was sacrificed to third. After an intentional walk to Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones blooped a single for a 2-1 lead. Chacon gave up one run, three hits and five walks in five innings, hitting two batters. Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.