Braves 2 - 3 Pirates
Final/10
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Pirates seek to get on track against Braves

Jun 26, 2015 - 2:24 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Pittsburgh Pirates will try to regain their dominant form when they open a three-game series Friday versus the Atlanta Braves at PNC Park.

The Pirates have lost five of their last six games following an eight-game winning streak from June 10-18 and just lost two of three meetings with the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds posted a 5-4 win in 13 innings in Thursday's rubber match in the Steel City.

Brandon Phillips led off the 13th inning with a home run and the Pirates went down in order in the bottom half. Rob Scahill served up the home run and starter A.J. Burnett allowed two runs (1 earned) in six innings of work. He also drove in two runs at the plate.

"He went out there and competed really well again. The pitch count was up early, but he settled in and got a handful of punchouts," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said of Burnett. "He mixed his pitches extremely well. He got us to a good part of the game."

Jordy Mercer had two hits and drove in a run, while Francisco Cervelli added an RBI in a losing effort.

Francisco Liriano will try to pitch the Buccos back on track when he takes the hill Friday and is 4-6 with a 3.26 earned run average in 14 starts. Liriano has lost two of his last three trips to the mound and gave up five runs in 5 2/3 innings of a 6-0 loss at Washington on Saturday.

Liriano, who hurled eight scoreless innings and struck out 12 in an 11-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox on June 15, is 2-1 with a 4.00 ERA in three career starts against the Braves. The lefty is just 2-4 in seven home starts.

The Braves swept the New York Mets in three games at the end of last week, then lost all three matchups with the Washington Nationals in D.C.

Washington pulled off the sweep with Thursday's 7-0 victory, as Doug Fister tamed the Braves to the tune of seven shutout innings and four hits. Matt Wisler toed the rubber for Atlanta and was tagged for six runs, four of which were earned, and nine hits in four innings.

It was Wisler's second major league start.

"Yeah, you're not going to be on your game every game," Wisler said. "These guys are the best hitters in the world. I wasn't on today. They beat me."

Cameron Maybin and Kelly Johnson had two hits apiece in the loss.

Atlanta will send Williams Perez to the mound Friday and he is 4-0 with a 2.78 earned run average in 10 games (7 starts). Perez has won back-to-back appearances and struggled a bit on Saturday, giving up four runs in six innings of a 6-4 win over the Mets.

The Braves have won his last four trips to the hill and Perez will face the Pirates for the second time in his career. He did not record a decision in a 10-8 loss to the Pirates on June 5, charged with four runs in five innings.

Pittsburgh won two of three games in Atlanta earlier this month and is 6-2 in the past eight meetings between the teams.






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