Bailey Falter threw six shutout innings and allowed two hits to help the host Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Atlanta Braves 3-2 and snap a seven-game losing streak on Friday night.
The Pirates triumphed in Don Kelly’s debut as Pirates manager, which came one day after Derek Shelton was fired after six seasons in Pittsburgh.
Falter (2-3) struck out three and walked two on 89 pitches. But closer Dennis Santana nearly let the advantage slip away before locking down his fourth save.
The Braves didn’t have an extra-base hit until Eli White tripled off Santana to lead off the ninth. White scored two batters later on a sacrifice fly by Michael Harris II. Santana then allowed a single to Alex Verdugo and an RBI single to Drake Baldwin after Verdugo moved up to second on defensive indifference, cutting Pittsburgh’s lead to 3-2.
Santana ended the game when he induced Ozzie Albies to fly out to center.
Falter limited an opponent to only two hits for the second consecutive start and for the third time this season.
After walking Sean Murphy to open the second inning, Falter retired 11 consecutive batters until Nick Allen hit a two-out single in the fifth.
Atlanta’s Bryce Elder (2-2) delivered a quality start as well, striking out eight and giving up five hits and no walks on 99 pitches, but he allowed three runs.
Two of those came from solo home runs by Alexander Canario in the third inning and Jared Triolo in the sixth. Andrew McCutchen nearly made it three home runs, but a ball he hit to deep center bounced off the top of the wall for an RBI double and a 3-0 lead in the sixth.
Triolo’s homer was his first of the season, and it marked the first time since April 27 that the Pirates hit multiple home runs in a game. It was only the sixth game this season in which Pittsburgh hit more than one home run.
Allen and Austin Riley each had two hits for the Braves, who lost for the second time in three games.
–Field Level Media
