By ALAN ROBINSON
AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH – Ryan Doumit homered with two outs in the 10th inning off Takashi Saito for his third hit, helping the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Atlanta Braves 3-2 on Sunday and avoid a three-game sweep.
Doumit’s first career game-ending homer was his fourth of the season and ended Atlanta’s five-game winning streak and Pittsburgh’s three-game losing streak. The Pirates averaged only two runs while dropping seven of their previous eight at home.
Saito (0-2) retired the first two batters in the 10th before Doumit drove a waist-high pitch into the right field seats, only the sixth homer by Pittsburgh in its last 21 home games.
Octavio Dotel (2-0) pitched a scoreless inning for the victory, stranding two runners by striking out Martin Prado, who went 0 for 5 while twice grounding into double plays.
The Braves had won 10 of 12 overall and their last 10 against NL Central teams.