Runs in the second and third were all Jair Jurrjens needed as the hot right-hander pitched 7.2 shutout innings, leading the Braves to a 2-0 win over the Pirates.
Jurrjens allowed six singles over 7.2 innings, walking one and striking out four. That's five straight starts with fewer than two walks. He induced 10 ground balls to nine fly balls, and the Pirates never reached third base. He moved to 6-1 on the season.
The Braves got on the board in the second when consecutive singles set up a sac fly RBI by Brooks Conrad, who started at second base in place of the struggling Dan Uggla. They added a second run in the third when Jordan Schafer walked and scored from first on a double by Martin Prado.
The Braves came close to scoring in the fifth when Chipper Jones hit a ground-rule double by way of fan interference, forcing Prado to stay at third base even though he would have scored on the hit. With two in scoring position and two outs, Brian McCann grounded out.
Alex Gonzalez led the Braves with three hits, including a double. Conrad and Prado recorded the two RBIs, and Prado and Chipper had one double each. Schafer went 0-4 with a walk and run scored in his first start of the season. Uggla came in as a defensive replacement for Conrad in the ninth.
Behind Jurrjens, Jonny Venters received the final out in the eighth after Jurrjens put a runner on. Craig Kimbrel shut the door in the ninth with a scoreless inning.
Charlie Morton allowed two runs on seven hits in seven innings, walking three and striking out four. He induced 13 ground balls to four fly balls.
Jose Tabata and Chris Snyder each had two singles and the offense had six total hits.
For more on the series, Braves fans check out Talking Chop and Pirates fans check out Bucs Dugout.