Bryan Reynolds leads hit parade as Pirates overcome early tensions to beat Braves

On a night when emotions ran high as the Atlanta Braves retired the jersey number of one of their greats and had a chance to clinch a playoff spot, the Pittsburgh Pirates played the perfect spoiler to the celebration.

Bryan Reynolds, who has an affinity for playing at Atlanta, led a 14-hit parade by going 3 for 5 with a double and a two-run home run as the Pirates beat the Braves, 8-4, Saturday night at Truist Park.

The Pirates (66-76) tied the season series against the Braves (92-49), who own the best record in baseball, and can win it when the teams play their seventh and final game on Sunday afternoon.

“We’ve played well against the Braves, possibly the best team in baseball, definitely the best lineup in baseball,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said on the AT&T SportsNet postgame show. “Our guys just kept going. They played a complete game. They did a lot of things well, which was fun to watch.”

The game was entertaining from the start, as tensions flared and benches cleared in the bottom of the first inning after Braves superstar Ronald Acuna Jr. took exception to Pirates starter Johan Oviedo’s brushback pitch. It started an exchange of words and saw them take steps toward each other on the infield.

“We’re obviously not trying to hit anybody to lead the game off,” Shelton said. “A couple balls are inside. We’re going to pitch inside and continued to pitch inside.”

Acuna ultimately drew a walk and the MLB stolen bases leader attempted to swipe second, only for Pirates rookie catcher Endy Rodriguez to gun him down with a perfectly placed throw to shortstop Liover Peguero. That saved a run, as Austin Riley hit a one-out single.

“Once that happens in the first inning, the crowd’s into it,” Shelton said. “This is a big crowd and a tough place to play for a bunch of young players, and he kind of just tamped it down right away.”

That’s when Reynolds got involved.

The Pirates took a 3-0 lead in the third. Ji Hwan Bae hit a leadoff single and raced home on a double to left by Ke’Bryan Hayes, then Reynolds extended his hit streak to 10 games with a 398-foot, two-run homer.

It was the 20th home run for Reynolds, joining Bobby Bonilla as the only switch hitters in franchise history with at least 20 homers in three consecutive seasons.

Reynolds, who was raised in Nashville and considers Braves Hall of Famer Chipper Jones his favorite player, entered Saturday’s game with a .337 batting average and a .911 OPS in 26 career games against Atlanta. His numbers at Truist Park are even better, with a .462/.482/.827 slash line and nine extra-base hits in 14 games.

“I don’t know, it’s got to be a combination of everything,” Reynolds said in an on-field interview with AT&T SportsNet. “It’s not too far from home so I’ve got a lot of people here. It works out well.”

The Braves answered in the bottom of the third, when Acuna singled to right, advanced to second on an Ozzie Albies line drive off the brick wall in right field and scored on Matt Olson’s single to right to cut it to 3-1.

Acuna won the next showdown against Oviedo in the fourth. Despite a sensational snare by Hayes down the line, Sean Murphy reached on a single to third and advanced to second on a single by Michael Harris II. Acuna worked a full count against Oviedo, then singled through the right side to score Murphy to cut the Braves’ deficit to 3-2. Albies followed with a single to right to score Harris and tie the game.

When Oviedo hit Austin Riley with a pitch to load the bases, Shelton pulled his starter after allowing nine hits and one walk on 92 pitches in 3 2/3 innings. While Oviedo was booed by the home crowd as he headed to the dugout, Braves manager Brian Snitker argued with crew chief Bill Miller until he was ejected.

The Pirates got what Shelton called an “outstanding” effort from their bullpen, which gave up one run on three hits and one walk with seven strikeouts over the remainder of the game.

It started with lefty Ryan Borucki escaping the jam by getting Olson, who leads the National League in home runs and RBIs, to pop out to short to end the inning with the score deadlocked. The Braves didn’t have such luck when they turned to their bullpen in the fifth, replacing lefty Dylan Dodd with righty Michael Tonkin.

The Pirates responded with three runs on four hits, thanks to timely hitting and aggressive baserunning. Miguel Andujar (3 for 5) hit a leadoff double and scored when Rodriguez singled to right to give the Pirates a 4-3 lead. Jack Suwinski singled to center to drive in Rodriguez and stretch the lead to two runs, then stole second and scored on Bae’s two-out single to left-center to make it 6-3.

Reynolds doubled to right to start the sixth and scored on Andujar’s single to center to give the Pirates a 7-3 lead.

Olson smashed Carmen Mlodzinski’s 2-2 sweeper 439 feet to right for his 48th home run. That puts Olson three homers shy of the Braves’ single-season record of 51, set in 2005 by Andruw Jones, who had his No. 25 retired in a pregame ceremony.

Marcell Ozuna followed with a single to right, then reached third on Murphy’s two-out single to center to bring the tying run to the plate. Shelton turned to Colin Holderman, who got Arcia looking at a full-count sinker at the bottom of the zone for a called strike.

Peguero hit a two-out solo homer 398 feet to left to stretch the Pirates’ lead to 8-4 in the ninth, and All-Star closer David Bednar pitched a clean ninth to clinch the victory.

“There’s probably no more playoff atmosphere they’re going to get than this place,” Shelton said. “It’s loud. They’re into the game. They’ve got the lights going. They’ve got the chop going. I was really proud.”