​This article originally appeared on PGHBaseballNOW.com. The Pirates launched three homers but could not overcome Mitch Keller’s early difficulties, and they fell 10-5 to the Braves in Thursday’s rubber match at PNC Park. Top of the first inning saw Atlanta seize a 1-0 lead with two outs when Matt Olson lined a solo homer over the right-field stands off Keller (6-7). The Braves, who moved to 54-38 with the win, capitalized on Keller’s shaky start to grab momentum early in the contest.
In the third inning, the Braves extended their advantage to 3-0 as Ozzie Albies drove in Michael Harris II with a double off the right-field wall and scored on a two-out single from Mauricio Dubón. The Pirates answered in the bottom of the frame, cutting the deficit to 3-2 when Bryan Reynolds and Esmery Valdez connected on back-to-back homers off Bryce Elder. Reynolds sent a blast out to left-center, followed by Valdez’s first major-league homer, bringing Pittsburgh within one.
The Braves responded in the fourth, immediately pulling away again by tacking on two runs with Jim Jarvis launching a two-run homer to right field for his first career homer. Later in the inning, Drake Baldwin delivered an RBI single to extend the lead.
In the bottom of the fourth, Pittsburgh continued to chip away as Jared Triolo reached on catcher’s interference, and Jake Mangum followed with a 405-foot home run to right field, trimming the deficit to 6-4. The Pirates then pulled within one in the bottom of the sixth on Mangum’s RBI double to right off JR Ritchie, narrowing the score to 6-5.
The Braves finally put the game away in the ninth inning. With two outs, Mike Yastrzemski belted a grand slam off Dennis Santana, pushing Atlanta’s lead to a commanding 10-5 final.
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