The season is only two days old, but the Braves already have produced a ninth-inning comeback that will be tough to surpass on the scale of improbability.

Unfortunately, it became merely a footnote in a loss late Monday night, as did Tom Glavine's first start for Atlanta since 2002.

Jessica McGowan/Staff (ENLARGE)

Tom Glavine was back on the mound in a Braves uniform Monday, after five seasons with the Mets.

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The Braves scored five runs in the ninth to send their home opener to extra innings, but Xavier Nady hit a three-run homer off Blaine Boyer in the 12th inning and the Pirates barely hung on for a 12-11 win.

"Probably the craziest game I've ever been part of," said Brian McCann, who was credited with a two-run single in the ninth inning when his two-out pop-up inexplicably dropped between two outfielders. "Down five and then we come back to tie it. They just got the big hit."

Jeff Francoeur homered with two out in the bottom of the 12th, and Mark Kotsay doubled and scored on a Matt Diaz single. But the magic finally ran out when pinch-hitter Corky Miller flied out to end the game.

"A lot of things you look at in this game were ugly," said Glavine, who was charged with two runs (one earned) in five innings in his first start with the Braves since 2002. "But a lot of things you look at and you are proud of. It seemed like tonight was one of those nights that you had to expect the unexpected. The end result was disappointing, but this early in the year it's a little easier to shrug it off."

Nady also hit an eighth-inning homer off Manny Acosta, who gave up four runs on two homers to put the Braves in an 8-4 deficit that looked completely insurmountable.

"We just made mistakes with some fastballs tonight with the guys in the bullpen," manager Bobby Cox said. "We've got a good bullpen."

The Pirates added another run in the ninth before the Braves went to work.

Yunel Escobar, who predicted to hitting coach Terry Pendleton that he'd get four hits Monday, went 3-for-4 with a two-run triple. It also had a bases-loaded walk in the whacky ninth inning.

The Braves looked dead on the side of the road with three outs remaining, but a faint pulse was revealed in the ninth when three of their first four batters — Kotsay, pinch-hitter Ruben Gotay and Martin Prado — drew walks against left-hander Damaso Marte.

Closer Matt Capps was brought in to face Escobar, who walked to bring in a run and send a buzz through what remained from a crowd of 45,269. The place started rocking.

Chipper Jones, who hit a home run in Sunday's 3-2 season-opening loss at Washington, came through again with a two-run single that cut the Pirates' lead to 9-7. There were screams, tomahawk chops, the whole deal, as slugger Mark Teixeira came to the plate.

The player who averaged more than an RBI a game for the Braves after his trade from Texas last July 31, had a chance to tie the game. But with runners on the corners he hit a popup to shallow center.

Now it was up to McCann, who had already homered Monday and hit another ball to the left-field warning track. But this time he hit a popup to left-center field and the game was ... no, wait. The ball fell between two outfielders!

Left fielder Jason Bay and center fielder Nate McLouth both slowed at the last second, and the ball fell between them as both Braves runners came around to score. The crowd was whipped into a state of joyous disbelief, the score 9-9.

"Luck was on our side there," McCann said.

Extra innings. All bets were off.

Things were going splendidly early in Glavine's homecoming. New shortstop Escobar was piling up hits. New center fielder Kotsay made a perfect throw to the plate. McCann homered.

Glavine limited the Pirates to seven hits despite throwing 97 pitches in five innings, but the supposedly improved bullpen cracked again.

Relievers gave up single runs in the sixth and seventh innings and Acosta was torched for four runs and two homers in the eighth as the Pirates opened an 8-4 lead.

Nady greeted Acosta with a leadoff homer in the eighth that gave the Pirates their first lead since the second inning, and McLouth added a three-run homer before Acosta was pulled.

The Braves made three infield errors — one by everyone except first baseman Teixeira.

"We kicked it around tonight," Cox said.