Jarvis’ first HR, Yastrzemski’s grand slam give Braves series win in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH — Jim Jarvis hit his first career home run and Mike Yastrzemski hit his third career grand slam, all part of a 10-5 Braves victory against the Pirates on Thursday at PNC Park. It was the Braves’ first series win in Pittsburgh since 2022 and the team’s 20th of the season.

Jarvis also turned a crucial 6-3 double play in the bottom of the seventh inning with the Braves clinging to a one-run lead after having been ahead by four earlier. Yastrzemski’s blast, a 403-foot shot to right field, came with two outs and on a 3-1 pitch in the ninth that gave the Braves some much-needed breathing room.

“Just looking to be aggressive in that situation,” Yastrzemski said. “We were only up one at that point. Trying to just give us a little extra cushion and got a good pitch to hit. It’s been a little grindy of a year, back and forth and back and forth. To kind of hit a little bit of a stride here has felt pretty good. So just kind of keep going forward and taking it one day at a time.”

Thursday’s victory also gave the Braves (54-38) their most wins before the All-Star break since the 2023 team won 60.

The Braves were next headed to St. Louis on Thursday before opening a three-game series, their final three games before the break, against the Cardinals on Friday. They will do so with an offense that is coming back around after a wretched June - they’re scoring 6.8 runs per game in July.

“I think our swing decisions are getting better. I think we’re starting to make adjustments in the middle of the game a little bit better,” Yastrzemski said. “Obviously, you can’t just claim that things are back to the way they were, but it’s a good step forward and I think we’re regaining our confidence and knowing that we’re never out of a game. That’s how we played in the beginning of the year. Nothing fazed us.

“I think we’re getting really close to having that feeling back. This was a great step toward that. And just feeling the momentum build of putting together one at bat after the other, and trusting the guy behind you.”

An unfortunate sidebar to Thursday’s game was the continued struggles of Braves starting pitcher Bryce Elder. The right-hander allowed four runs (three earned) on three homers, walked two and gave up five hits before leaving after 69 pitches. And even after the Braves skipped his spot in the rotation (he last pitched June 27), Elder has allowed 32 earned runs over his last 34 innings (an 8.47 ERA) and served up 10 home run balls.

“I think, man, take it and run. Obviously, it wasn’t pretty,” Elder said. “Made a couple mistakes and paid for it. But, man, after the last three, the bar wasn’t set too high. Just kind of gotta go out and give the team a chance. So take it and run with it going into the (All-Star) break and hit the ground running and come back.”

The Braves jumped out front Thursday thanks to Matt Olson’s two-out solo homer off Pirates starter Mitch Keller. It was Olson’s 25th home run of the season.

In the third, after Michael Harris II singled to left and stole second, Ozzie Albies hit the 12th pitch of the at-bat off the wall in right for an RBI double. Harris, for a moment, stopped between third and home before making a break for the plate and sliding in safely just before the tag.

The double for Albies was the 459th extra-base hit of his career, the eighth-most in Braves history.

Two outs later in the third, Mauricio Dubón slapped an RBI single to right to make it 3-0. That made Dubón 15-for-39 with 25 RBIs this season when batting with two outs and runners in scoring position.

Elder gave the Pirates two of those runs right back in the bottom half of the inning. He threw a 3-2 slider down the heart of the plate to Bryan Reynolds that was banged 390 feet into the stands in right. Elder then had his 1-0 slider to Esmerlyn Valdez hit 394 feet down the left field line, cutting the Braves’ lead to 3-2.

But in the fourth, with one out and one on, Jarvis took the first pitch he saw from Cam Sanders, a fastball, and hit it 397 feet into the seats in right for his first MLB home run. The two-run shot put the Braves up 5-2.

“I mean, it’s just something you dream about,” Jarvis said. “And honestly, like, I’m not a power hitter, so it’s kind of shocking it happened this early, you know? But I mean, an unreal amount of fun running around the bases and then coming in and getting the tomahawks and getting to dap everyone up.”

Drake Baldwin’s RBI single to right with two outs later in the inning made it 6-2 and chased Sanders from the game.

Elder got two quick outs in the fourth but had some bad luck when a catcher’s interference call put Jared Triolo aboard. Jake Mangum then turned on a first-pitch cutter for a two-run homer to right to get the Bucs within 6-4.

“I think I’m just like a little out of sync with everything,” Elder said. “It’s like the slider like just kind of pops some. And then the sinker hadn’t had the execution, glove-side hadn’t been really good at all. And you know that’s what kind of allowed me to be really effective for however many starts. But like I said, I know it wasn’t pretty, but I thought it was significantly better than the last three, so I don’t know if I’m just trying to be too positive or what? But I’ll take it and run.”

It was the fourth time Elder had allowed three home runs in a game and first instance since June 27, 2025, against the Phillies.

JR Ritchie came on in relief in the bottom of the sixth. A walk to Nick Gonzales, a one-out single by Triolo and two-out double by Mangum got the Pirates (47-47) within 6-5.

Ritchie got one out in the seventh before Danny Young came in and threw two pitches, the latter of which became the 6-3 double play turned by Jarvis. James Karinchak worked around a lead-off walk and wild pitch in the eighth to preserve the lead.