Matt Olson hit a home run and later scored the go-ahead run in the 11th inning on a wild pitch, helping the Atlanta Braves edge the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2 in extra innings on Saturday night.
Olson launched his seventh homer of the season in the third inning and began the 11th as the automatic runner on second. He advanced to third on Ozzie Albies’ groundout and stayed put on Sean Murphy’s. But Pirates reliever Chase Shugart (1-3) then uncorked a wild pitch that just missed batter Eli White and bounced to the backstop, allowing Olson to score the decisive run.
Scott Blewett (2-0) tossed a scoreless 10th and held the Pirates in check in the 11th despite Alexander Canario reaching third on Jared Triolo’s sacrifice bunt. Blewett fanned Liover Peguero looking and got Tommy Pham to ground out, sealing the Braves’ win.
Peguero had just entered the game after Oneil Cruz exited with lower back tightness following the 10th.
The Braves remain unbeaten in extra innings this season at 5-0, while the Pirates fell to 2-3 in such games and have now lost 11 of their last 13.
Atlanta took a 2-1 lead into the eighth, but Joey Bart—who went 4-for-4 with an RBI—singled with one out. Ji Hwan Bae came in as a pinch runner, stole second, and moved to third on Ke’Bryan Hayes’ groundout. Matt Gorski then tied it with an infield single off reliever Daysbel Hernandez.
Pittsburgh threatened further in the inning, loading the bases after Hernandez issued two walks (one intentional), but Triolo flied out to end the rally. The Pirates also missed out on scoring chances in each of the next three innings.
Michael Harris II opened the scoring for Atlanta with an RBI double in the second.
In a game full of drama, Pirates acting manager Don Kelly was ejected in the sixth for arguing balls and strikes, with third base coach Mike Rabelo taking over. Outfielder Bryan Reynolds was also tossed after a strikeout in the seventh.
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