Karstens spells relief for Pirates

ATLANTA (AP) — On a day when he was going to start, Jeff Karstens started out in the Pittsburgh bullpen.

He wasn’t there long.

Karstens entered in relief after the pitcher who replaced him in the rotation, Charlie Morton, left the game with a tight left hamstring. The former starter gave up only one run in 42‚Ñ3 innings, leading the Pirates past the Atlanta Braves 3-2 on Wednesday night.

“I did what I had to do to save the bullpen,” Karstens said. “I’m used to throwing a lot.”

Adam LaRoche had two RBIs and Craig Monroe pulled off some nifty baserunning to score a crucial run for the Pirates, who snapped a three-game losing streak and denied Atlanta its first four-game winning streak of the season.

Morton was called up from Triple-A Indianapolis to start against his former team, but the Pirates right-hander lasted only one inning. Karstens (3-4) took over and didn’t allow a run until the sixth.

Asked if he expected to be called in so soon, Karstens quipped, “I don’t think my arm expected it.”

LaRoche put the Pirates ahead in the third against Jair Jurrjens (5-4), driving in a run with a forceout. Jason Jaramillo made it 2-0 with a two-out single.

After Atlanta closed to 2-1 on a near-homer by Brian McCann, Monroe’s heads-up play on the base paths restored the two-run lead. He led off the seventh as a pinch-hitter and was grazed by Eric O’Flaherty’s pitch. Monroe moved up on a groundout and was still at second with two outs when LaRoche hit a hard shot up the middle.

Second baseman Kelly Johnson made a diving stop and flipped to shortstop Yunel Escobar, trying for a force at second. The toss was late and Monroe never stopped, streaking around third while Escobar held the ball, not bothering to look toward the runner.

His delayed throw home was wild, and it wouldn’t have gotten the speedy Monroe anyway.

“It wasn’t heads-up,” Braves manager Bobby Cox said, “and I don’t know if anybody was yelling to tell him.”

Matt Capps pitched the ninth for his 14th save, giving up a two-out homer to Garret Anderson.