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Playoff-bound Pirates still have more to play for

Sep 24, 2014 - 2:58 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Pittsburgh Pirates have clinched a playoff spot, but that doesn't mean the club has nothing to play for over the final five games of the regular season.

The Pirates are still in the mix for a National League Central title and hope to gain some ground in that race on Wednesday night in the third contest of a four-game series against the Atlanta Braves.

Exactly one year after clinching their first playoff berth since 1992, the Pirates made it two trips to the postseason in a row when they beat the Braves 3-2 on Tuesday night and saw Milwaukee lose to Cincinnati.

Pittsburgh has won 11 of its last 13 and will make back-to-back postseason appearances for the first time since winning three straight NL East titles from 1990-92.

The Pirates, though, can enter the 2014 postseason as division champions as they only trail the St. Louis Cardinals by 1 1/2 games for first place. Pittsburgh has one more game than St. Louis left on its schedule as the Cards are idle Thursday, when Pittsburgh concludes this four-game set with Atlanta.

"It's what every team wants to do," said Pittsburgh's Andrew McCutchen, who scored the winning run last night in the sixth inning, of making the playoffs. "We've still got some games left. We still actually have an opportunity to win the division, so this is just one step in that direction."

McCutchen reached base in all four of his plate appearances on Tuesday, while Travis Snider hit a solo homer and Starling Marte drove in McCutchen with a sixth-inning double.

Gerrit Cole shook off a shaky beginning and wound up retiring the final 17 batters he faced. He allowed two runs on four hits and struck out eight over seven frames.

"The second consecutive (playoff) season is so much better than the 18, 19, 20 years of consecutive losing," said Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. "So we're onto something."

The Braves were limited to six hits and have scored just 17 runs over a horrid 1-10 stretch that eliminated the club from playoff contention. Atlanta is five games under .500 for the first time since it was 13-18 on May 9, 2010.

Alex Wood was saddled with the loss after allowing seven hits and three runs -- two earned -- over 6 2/3 innings.

"You never want to see teams clinch on your field," said Braves left fielder Justin Upton. "You hope to prevent that. You hope to play better than we did. We came out good. Cole just got into a rhythm and we couldn't solve him."

Julio Teheran, who starts tonight, has been in a great rhythm for the Braves, but a lack of run support has caused him to lose each of his last four starts. Atlanta has been shut out three times over Teheran's losing streak in addition to a 3-2 loss to Texas on Sept. 13.

All three runs the right-hander allowed over eight innings against the Rangers were unearned, and he then yielded just two runs on seven hits over seven innings on Friday to the New York Mets. Teheran also fanned six, but lost a 5-0 decision.

The 23-year-old is now 13-13 with a 2.88 ERA on the year and 1-0 lifetime versus the Pirates with a 2.40 ERA in three games with two starts.

Jeff Locke gets the call for the Pirates and is coming off a no-decision versus Milwaukee on Friday. He gave up two runs on five hits over seven innings, not walking a batter in his club's 4-2 win.

Locke has allowed three runs or fewer in six of his past seven outings while going 7-5 with a 3.60 ERA in 20 starts this year.

The left-hander is 1-0 with a 4.41 ERA in three lifetime meetings with the Braves.

The Braves won two of three in Pittsburgh from Aug. 18-20.