PITTSBURGH — Not many managers would intentionally walk Freddy Sanchez to load the bases and bring up Jason Bay, the Pittsburgh Pirates' one reliable run producer. Bobby Cox of the Atlanta Braves did, and it got his team another victory following a bad weekend.

Edgar Renteria hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the eighth inning and the Braves turned Horacio Ramirez's effective start into a 3-2 victory over the Pirates on Wednesday night.

Matt Diaz hit his first home run since May 16 to support Ramirez, who didn't get the victory despite limiting the Pirates to two runs over 6 2-3 innings and matching Paul Maholm's strong start for the Pirates.

Maholm has won only two of his last 14 starts, but held the Braves to two runs and five hits over seven innings. He has lasted seven innings in each of his last two starts after doing so only once in his previous nine.

Tyler Yates (1-1) got his first victory in 27 games with the Braves by getting the final out in the seventh, despite permitting Jack Wilson's RBI single that briefly tied it at 2. But Yates' one out was a key one — Bay on a flyball that followed singles by Chris Duffy and Wilson and the walk to Sanchez, the NL's leading hitter with a .347 average.

"That's the respect factor they have for Freddy," Pirates manager Jim Tracy said. "The game is in the balance there and the chances of striking Freddy out aren't very good."

Bay felt he got a pitch to hit from Yates, but said, "I got a fastball I could drive, but I didn't do anything with it."

Salomon Torres (3-5) took the loss for the Pirates, who have dropped their last two since winning five in a row.

The Braves have won two in a row in Pittsburgh since dropping five of six, including a three-game weekend sweep at home by the Mets.

"We all know we've got to get going, that we can't afford many more series like we had at home," Ramirez said. "We all realize that and we're all trying to do something about it."