Musgroves pitches Pirates past Braves

Associated Press

Pittsburgh

Joe Musgrove gave Pittsburgh’s beleaguered bullpen a welcome break, pitching into the ninth inning for the first time in his career as the Pirates beat the Atlanta Braves 7-4 in a game delayed more than two hours by rain Wednesday night.

Musgrove (4-6) bounced back from a pair of bumpy starts to overwhelm the Braves and help Pittsburgh end a three-game skid. The right-hander retired 14 straight and struck out six without issuing a walk.

He took the mound in the ninth looking for his first complete game, but was pulled for closer Felipe Vazquez after giving up back-to-back home runs to Ronald Acuna Jr. and Dansby Swanson.

Vazquez allowed an RBI double to Nick Markakis but avoided major damage as the Pirates won for just the fifth time in 16 games.

Elias Diaz hit his first home run of the season for Pittsburgh. Colin Moran added his seventh for the Pirates, who jumped on Atlanta starter Kevin Gausman to give Musgrove plenty of wiggle room.

Diaz sent a two-run shot to the left field bleachers in the second and Moran drilled one into the Atlanta bullpen just beyond the center field wall in the fifth.

Gregory Polanco went 3 for 4. Starling Marte added three hits and Josh Bell returned from his first day off this season to deliver an RBI double for Pittsburgh, which touched Gausman (2-5) for seven runs.

Atlanta rookie left fielder Austin Riley produced his 26th RBI in his 19th career game, a sharp single in the second, but otherwise the Braves did little against Musgrove.

The start was held up 2 hours, 4 minutes, due to rain.

UP NEXT

Braves: Mike Foltynewicz (1-4, 6.10 ERA) gets the ball for today’s series finale. The right-hander is 1-3 with a 6.88 ERA in four career starts against Pittsburgh.

Pirates: Chris Archer (2-5, 5.66 ERA) earned his first victory since April 7 when he beat the Brewers last Friday. Archer has won consecutive starts just twice since the beginning of the 2017 season.