ATLANTA (Interstat) — Ronald Acuña Jr. launched a two-run home run in the first inning, and the Atlanta Braves closed their season with a 4-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday evening at Truist Park.

In what was potentially the final major league appearance for veteran right-hander Charlie Morton, the Braves employed an opener strategy. Morton started and worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out one before handing the ball to Chris Sale.

Sale (7-5) entered in the second inning and delivered a dominant performance to earn the win. Over 5 2/3 innings, the left-hander allowed one run on four hits, walking five and striking out nine. Raisel Iglesias pitched a perfect ninth inning to secure his 29th save of the season.

The Pirates struck first without a hit in the opening frame. Jared Triolo worked a leadoff walk, but the threat was quickly extinguished when Nick Gonzales grounded into a double play. Tommy Pham and Andrew McCutchen followed with back-to-back singles, but Joey Bart flew out sharply to center field to end the inning.

Atlanta responded immediately in the bottom of the first against Pirates starter Johan Oviedo. After Jurickson Profar popped out, Matt Olson drew a walk. Acuña then stepped in and crushed a 451-foot home run to center field, his 21st of the season, giving the Braves a 2-0 lead.

Oviedo (2-1) took the loss, pitching five innings and allowing two runs on three hits. He walked two and struck out three.

Pittsburgh cut the deficit in half in the sixth inning. Bryan Reynolds sparked the rally with a line-drive double to left field. Joey Bart followed with a sharp single to right, scoring Reynolds to make it 2-1. Sale limited the damage by striking out Alexander Canario to end the threat.

The Braves added crucial insurance runs in the eighth inning against Pirates reliever Yohan Ramírez. Nick Allen led off with a double to right field. After Profar struck out, Olson delivered an RBI single to score Allen. Olson then advanced to second on a walk to Acuña and scored when Drake Baldwin hit a ground ball to shortstop Triolo, whose throwing error to first base allowed Olson to cross the plate.

Pittsburgh’s offense managed six hits but went 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Atlanta’s pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts.

The game, played before a crowd of 35,827, took 2 hours, 25 minutes to complete.

With the loss, the Pirates finished their season with a record of 71-91. The Braves concluded their campaign at 76-86. The victory gave Atlanta a win in the series finale after dropping the first two games of the weekend set to Pittsburgh.