Atlanta 4, Pittsburgh 0
When: 12:35 PM ET, Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Where: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Temperature:
69°
Umpires:
Home -
Cory Blaser, 1B -
Chris Guccione, 2B -
Jeff Nelson, 3B -
Bill Welke
Attendance:
20615
By SportsDirect Inc.
Braves 4, Pirates 0: Ben Sheets struck out two in a perfect inning and Chipper Jones delivered a pinch-hit single and scored in his final regular-season at-bat as visiting Atlanta tuned up for the playoffs.
Sheets got the nod as the Braves rested all of their starters and went with the bullpen. The former star right-hander, who was expected to retire after the game, struck out Andrew McCutchen swinging to end the first inning and had tears in his eyes in the dugout as he was mobbed by his teammates.
Sheets was one of eight relievers used by Atlanta that combined to allow four hits while striking out 11 and not walking a batter. Julio Teheran was the only one of the eight to go two innings, and Luis Avilan (1-0) followed Sheets to pick up the win.
Martin Prado delivered a sacrifice fly in the first and Dan Uggla singled in a run in the fourth off A.J. Burnett to make it a 2-0 gap. Jones led off the sixth with a single and came around to score on J.C. Boscan's single to center.
Burnett (16-10) was charged with four runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings while striking out three and walking a pair. That snapped a streak of seven straight starts allowing three earned runs or less.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Sheets had not pitched since Aug. 24 and was not expected to be on the postseason roster. He finishes up 4-4 with a 3.47 ERA in nine games with the Braves. … Uggla was in the lineup despite swelling in his right hand. He had suffered a laceration during Atlanta’s celebration after clinching a playoff spot last week. … McCutchen went 1-for-3 to finish the season with a .327 batting average, second in the National League behind San Francisco’s Buster Posey.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Atlanta |
|
Pittsburgh |
Ben Sheets |
Player |
A.J. Burnett
|
No Decision |
W/L |
Loss |
1.0 |
IP |
5.2 |
2 |
Strikeouts |
3 |
0 |
Hits |
8 |
0.00 |
ERA |
6.35 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
Atlanta
|
10 |
0 |
10 |
.303 |
16 |
9 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
Pittsburgh
|
4 |
0 |
4 |
.133 |
6 |
11 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |