Braves hit 3 homers off A.J. Burnett as Pirates lose 7-2

The Pirates took an early lead in the third on an RBI double by Gaby Sanchez, but that's the only lead they would see, as A.J. Burnett uncharacteristically gave up three home runs.

In the fourth, Burnett walked Freddie Freeman, then grooved a fastball to Brian McCann, who crushed it to give the Braves a 2-1 lead. In an #umpshow later in the inning, Burnett threw a strike right across the plate that Dan Iassogna called a ball, and then Iassogna threw Russell Martin out almost immediately, then tossed Clint Hurdle too.

Then in the fifth, the game became a blowout in the blink of an eye. Andrelton Simmons hit an infield single, and then Jason Heyward golfed a ball just inside the right-field foul pole to make it 4-1. Then Justin Upton singled, and Freeman hit an opposite-field homer. The Braves were limited to four runs that inning only because Starling Marte and Neil Walker made a nice play to cut down Chris Johnson as he attempted to stretch a double into a triple, and the damage was done.

The Braves got another run against Mike Zagurski in garbage time -- Zagurski walked three batters and couldn't even get through his inning. Ryan Reid made his big-league debut after that and got four straight groundouts. The Bucs then scored an extra run in the ninth on an RBI double by Clint Barmes.