Ronald Acuña Jr. slugged three hits and Michael Harris II tagged on a popup to right field and scored on a close call in the eighth inning, lifting the MLB-leading Atlanta Braves to a 6-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night. Harris raced home on Austin Riley’s fly into shallow right off Carmen Mlodzinski (2-3) that was fielded by backpeddling Jared Triolo. Harris slid in ahead of the throw to home by the second baseman.
Coming off a pair of draining, tight losses and facing an early deficit against perhaps the best team in baseball, the Pittsburgh Pirates could have bailed. “We gave (the Braves) all they wanted this series,” Pittsburgh outfielder Bryan Reynolds said. Ke'Bryan Hayes drove in three runs for the third straight game for Pittsburgh.
Rookie infielder Liover Peguero had two hits in a six-run third inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates chased Spencer Strider early before holding off the Atlanta Braves for a rain-delayed 7-6 victory Monday night. Connor Joe homered in the fourth to help the fourth-place Pirates hand the major league-leading Braves their third consecutive defeat. Pittsburgh ended an eight-game losing streak to Atlanta that dated to 2021.