Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - Ben Sheets made the 250th and final start of
his major league career Wednesday as the Atlanta Braves blanked the Pittsburgh
Pirates, 4-0, in the regular-season finale for both teams at PNC Park.
Sheets, 34, announced his retirement on Tuesday, and briefly showed why he was
the 10th overall draft selection by the Milwaukee Brewers in 1999.
The Louisiana native pitched the first inning, did not allow a run and struck
out a pair for the Braves (94-68), who will face the St. Louis Cardinals at
home in the NL wild card matchup on Friday.
Luis Avilan (1-0) earned the win with a scoreless second inning in relief of
Sheets.
Chipper Jones picked up a pinch-hit single and a run scored in his final
regular season game, with J.C. Boscan, Dan Uggla, Martin Prado and Juan
Francisco all knocking in runs in the victory.
A.J. Burnett (16-10) allowed four runs on eight hits with a pair of walks and
three strikeouts for the Pirates (79-83), who finished below the .500 mark for
the 20th consecutive season.
Andrew McCutchen went 1-for-3 in the loss and finished the regular season with
a .327 average.
The Sports Network