Pirates defeat Braves in important contest

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

The Atlanta Braves lost a game they badly needed to win. Even worse, they lost to a Pirates team whose only apparent goal appears to be avoiding the franchise’s worst season in nearly 50 years.

Neil Walker hit a two-run homer, Brian Burres limited Atlanta to one run over six innings in his first start in more than three months and the Pirates beat the can’t-get-hot Braves 3-1 on Monday.

Despite losing its fourth in five games, Atlanta was assured of remaining in first place in the NL East for at least another day when Florida beat Philadelphia 7-1 in the first game of a day-night doubleheader. The Braves own a one-game lead over the Phillies.

The Braves have led the division every day since May 31, but have lost six games off that edge since July 22.

Lost their confidence, too? They say not so.

“I think a characteristic of our team is confidence,” said Matt Diaz, who had two of Atlanta’s eight hits. “We don’t really have a strut on the field and but we definitely have a swagger in the locker room, and we’re not losing confidence at all. We know we go in the division and control our fate. That’s the beauty of being the team that the other team’s chasing — whether it’s one game or 10 games.”

Atlanta had won five of its previous six against Pittsburgh and likely was looking to this three-game series as a way to get untracked. But the Braves did almost nothing against Burres (3-3), who limited them to David Ross’ sacrifice fly in the second during his first start since losing to Atlanta 6-3 on May 29.

Keeping the Braves off balance with an assortment of offspeed pitches mixed in with a fastball that topped out at 90 mph, Burres made his best start since shutting out the Cubs for seven innings on May 6. The left-hander spent much of the season with Triple-A Indianapolis, and started Monday only because Jeff Karstens has arm and shoulder fatigue.

“I felt like when I needed to, I could make a good pitch,” said Burres, who might remain in the rotation.

Joel Hanrahan pitched the ninth inning for his fourth save in seven opportunities.

Tommy Hanson (9-11) held the Pirates to an unearned run over five innings before Jose Tabata singled to start the sixth, and Walker followed with a drive to straightaway center that made it 3-1. Walker’s 10th homer extended his hitting streak to 13 games (22 for 57, .386).

“I saw Jose was running on the pitch and I felt like it was one of the best pitches I’d seen all day,” Walker said. “He was hitting his spots pretty good and left a pitch out over the plate, and I felt like I could do something with it.”