Sunday, May 30, 2010
Associated Press
ATLANTA
Brian McCann and the Atlanta Braves quickly shifted gears after another final at-bat win.
Bring on the Philadelphia Phillies.
Pinch-hitter Chipper Jones had a tiebreaking RBI single in the eighth inning and the Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-2 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.
Jason Heyward added a two-run triple off Javier Lopez as the Braves won their fifth straight game to pull within a half-game of NL East-leading Philadelphia.
Next up for Atlanta? A three-game series against the Phillies beginning today at Turner Field.
Jones’ hit helped the Braves earn their ninth win in their last at-bat.
Nate McLouth started the decisive rally with a one-out walk. He swiped second before Joel Hanrahan (1-1) walked pinch-hitter Brian McCann. Martin Prado struck out but Jones followed with a bloop single into shallow left field, just out of the reach of shortstop Ronny Cedeno.
“It ended up being a good pitch,” Hanrahan said. “What are you going to do? That’s baseball. That’s Chipper.”
Takashi Saito (1-2) pitched a perfect eighth inning, striking out two batters, and Billy Wagner finished for his seventh save.
.Paul Maholm pitched six innings for Pittsburgh, allowing just two runs despite giving up 10 hits. Hanrahan was charged with three runs and one hit with two walks in 1 2-3 innings.
Troy Glaus drove in Atlanta’s first two runs with a first-inning sacrifice fly and a third-inning homer off Maholm. Glaus leads the NL with 25 RBIs in May.