SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. (Interstat) — Dominic Smith hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning and Spencer Strider pitched five innings to earn his fourth win as the Atlanta Braves defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-3 on Saturday afternoon at Truist Park.

Smith, the designated hitter, went 2 for 3 with two RBIs and a walk. His home run to left field in the bottom of the fifth broke a 3-3 tie and gave Atlanta a lead it never relinquished. The Braves improved to 44-21, while Pittsburgh fell to 34-31.

Atlanta struck first in the bottom of the first. Ronald Acuña Jr. led off with a sharp single to center and moved to third on a line-drive single by Mauricio Dubón. After Matt Olson struck out, Ozzie Albies lifted a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Acuña. Dubón advanced to second on the play. Smith followed with a single to center that put runners at the corners, and Austin Riley lined a double to left, scoring Dubón and sending Smith to third. Mike Yastrzemski was called out on strikes to end the inning, but the Braves had a 2-0 lead.

Pittsburgh struggled to generate offense early against Strider. Spencer Horwitz led off the game with a ground-ball single, but Brandon Lowe struck out, Bryan Reynolds flied out and Ryan O’Hearn flied out to end the top of the first. In the second, Nick Gonzales grounded out, Oneil Cruz walked, Endy Rodríguez struck out and Tyler Callihan flied out. The Pirates went down in order in the third, with Jared Triolo lining out, Horwitz popping out and Lowe popping out.

Atlanta added a run in the third. Dubón singled to right with one out, then moved to second when Ozzie Albies was hit by a pitch. Smith flied out sharply to center, sending Dubón to third. Riley then grounded out to third, but Dubón scored on the play to make it 3-0.

Pittsburgh finally broke through in the fourth. Reynolds led off with a double to center. After O’Hearn flied out, Gonzales lined a double to left, scoring Reynolds and cutting the lead to 3-1. Cruz walked, but Rodríguez struck out. Callihan then doubled to right, scoring Gonzales. Cruz tried to score from first but was thrown out at the plate on a relay from right fielder Acuña to first baseman Olson to catcher Austin Wynns. The inning ended with the score tied 3-3.

The Pirates took the lead in the fifth. Triolo led off with a single that was deflected by second baseman Albies. Horwitz grounded out to first, moving Triolo to third. Lowe then hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Triolo and giving Pittsburgh a 4-3 lead. Reynolds flied out to center to end the inning, but the Pirates had scored one run to go ahead.

Atlanta answered emphatically in the bottom of the fifth. Acuña singled to left to lead off. Dubón struck out, but Olson singled to center, putting runners at first and second. Albies then hit a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Acuña and tying the game 4-4. Olson moved to third on the play. Smith then homered to left, a two-run shot that scored Olson and gave Atlanta a 6-4 lead. Riley followed with a single to left, but Yastrzemski grounded out to end the inning. The Braves had scored three runs on three hits, with Smith’s homer the decisive blow.

From there, Atlanta’s bullpen took over. Dylan Dodd pitched a scoreless sixth, striking out three. Tyler Kinley worked a scoreless seventh, allowing two hits but no runs. Dylan Lee struck out two in a perfect eighth. Raisel Iglesias earned his 13th save with a scoreless ninth, allowing one hit and striking out one.

Pittsburgh had chances to rally but could not capitalize. In the sixth, O’Hearn struck out, Gonzales struck out, Cruz walked and Rodríguez struck out. In the seventh, Callihan walked, Triolo lined out to left, Horwitz struck out and Lowe struck out. In the eighth, Reynolds flied out, O’Hearn singled and Gonzales singled, putting two on with one out. But Cruz struck out and Rodríguez flied out to center. In the ninth, Callihan flied out, Jake Mangum singled, Horwitz popped out and Lowe struck out swinging to end the game.

Braxton Ashcraft took the loss for Pittsburgh, falling to 5-3. He allowed six runs on nine hits over five innings, striking out three and walking one. Yohan Ramírez pitched two scoreless innings of relief, allowing no hits and striking out two. Mason Montgomery added a scoreless inning.

Strider improved to 4-1, allowing three runs on five hits over five innings. He struck out three and walked two. The Atlanta bullpen combined for four scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out eight.

Key defensive plays included the out at the plate in the fourth, when Callihan’s double scored Gonzales but Cruz was cut down trying to score. In the bottom of the eighth, Atlanta turned a double play when Eli White grounded into a force out and then Wynns grounded into a force out to end the inning.

The win was Atlanta’s second in as many nights against Pittsburgh, following a 6-3 victory on Friday. The Pirates had won four of their previous five games entering the series.

The game drew an announced attendance of 40,276 at Truist Park and lasted 2 hours, 35 minutes.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Pittsburgh Pirates 7, Atlanta Braves 6. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Atlanta with a 62.10 percent probability to win. Pittsburgh had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 9 went under the over/under line of 8.