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MLB: Atlanta 4, Pittsburgh 0

Retiring Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones takes the field in the ninth inning of their baseball game against the New York Mets at Turner Field in Atlanta on September 29, 2012. UPI/David Tulis
Retiring Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones takes the field in the ninth inning of their baseball game against the New York Mets at Turner Field in Atlanta on September 29, 2012. UPI/David Tulis | License Photo

PITTSBURGH, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Ben Sheets and seven other Atlanta pitchers combined for a four-hitter Wednesday in the Braves' 4-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Atlanta ended the regular season 94-68 and will be the host team for Friday's National League wild-card game against St. Louis. The Pirates' season is over at 79-83, the 21st consecutive sub-.500 season for Pittsburgh.

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Sheets was given the start for Atlanta Wednesday and pitched one inning, striking out two. He had announced that it would be his final major league game.

After that the Braves used Luis Avilan for one inning, Julio Teheran for two and Randall Delgado, Cory Gearrin, Eric O'Flaherty, Jonny Venters and Craig Kimbrel for one inning each. Avilan (1-0) was credited with his first major league win.

Atlanta scored its first run without a hit as A.J. Burnett (16-10) walked Michael Bourn to open the game. Bourn stole second and third and was in position to score on a sacrifice fly by Martin Prado.

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Jayson Heyward opened the fourth with a single and stole second, which allowed him to score on a Dan Uggla single. The Braves added a pair of runs in the sixth with a rally that started with a Chipper Jones pinch-hit single. He scored on a J.C. Boscan single and Heyward scored on a groundout for the final run.

Wednesday marked the final regular-season game for Jones, who is retiring after 19 major league seasons, all of which were played for Atlanta. His hit Wednesday gave him 2,726 for his career.

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