PITTSBURGH - Alex Wood can tell the instant a breaking ball leaves his hand whether he has a feel for it on a given day. When he does, the Atlanta Braves lefty can be dominant.
Wood pitched shutout ball into the eighth inning Sunday to win for the first time in five starts, and the Braves held on for a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Wood (5-5) scattered five hits and struck out eight without a walk in 7 1-3 innings as Atlanta ended a season-high, five-game losing streak.
"When you get all three (pitches) going, those usually turn into pretty fun days," Wood said. "We needed a win today and everybody came to play and definitely it feels good to get out of Pittsburgh with a W."
Jace Peterson hit his third homer for the Braves. Chris Johnson added two hits and Nick Markakis drove in a run. Jason Grilli gave up a run during an eventful ninth but earned his 21st save.
Pirates star Andrew McCutchen went 1 for 4 after getting hit on the left elbow Saturday by a pitch from Julio Teheran. McCutchen wore a large brace for protection after experimenting with a couple of them before the game.
Wood's only real spot of trouble came in the seventh when McCutchen and Starling Marte hit consecutive singles to start the inning. Francisco Cervelli, who came in batting .389 against lefties, tried to bunt for a hit. Wood kept his feet and threw out Cervelli, credited with a sacrifice as the runners advanced. But Wood struck out Jordy Mercer and got Sean Rodriguez to fly out.
"I was honestly surprised Cervelli bunted there," Wood said.
So was Pirates manager Clint Hurdle.
"He thought he was going to make a baseball play and give the guy behind him an opportunity," Hurdle said. "The guy made a good play. I don't have a 'Don't bunt for a base hit' sign. He had a feel for it."
Cervelli defended the move, saying he would do it again if given the chance.
Atlanta didn't do much against Pittsburgh starter Jeff Locke (4-4), managing only an RBI single by Markakis in the fifth. Peterson homered off reliever Vance Worley in the seventh to give the Braves a little breathing room.
Grilli, an All-Star closer for the Pirates in 2013 who took the loss in a 10-inning defeat on Friday, made Wood's hard work hold up but not without some excitement.
Cervelli walked with two outs and Mercer sent a long drive to the wall in left-center. Cameron Maybin and Eury Perez collided when both tried to make the catch. The ball glanced off Maybin's glove as Cervelli scored and Mercer raced to second with his third hit of the game.
Perez stayed down for several moments but walked off the field without assistance. Grilli struck out pinch-hitter Gregory Polanco to end it.
"Luckily, Cameron Maybin's OK and Eury got checked," Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "It was more of his torso than it was the head. But there's nothing there. Hopefully we dodged a bullet there."
McCutchen appeared just fine less than 24 hours after the first inning of Saturday's game when Teheran's 92 mph fastball smacked him in the elbow, the eighth time this season and the 48th time in his career he's been hit. The 2013 NL MVP joked he might need to "drop kick" an opposing pitcher to stop getting buzzed. He was diagnosed with a bone bruise and texted Hurdle on Sunday morning saying he was good to go.
Wearing a large black pad on the elbow, McCutchen didn't appear limited at the plate. He hit three long fly balls to go with his single.
"I just found whatever worked," McCutchen said. "I tried on a couple of them. Said, 'This one worked.' Pretty easy. Pretty simple."