And their bullpen wasn't perfect.

Nate McLouth's two-run homer off closer Mike Gonzalez in the eighth inning ended any remaining suspense during the Pittsburgh Pirates' 3-0 series-opening victory against the Braves at PNC Park.

The was the fourth consecutive loss for the Braves , who fell to .500 (5-5) for the first time in the young season. It was not how they wanted to begin a three-city, nine-game trip after being swept at home by the Florida Marlins.

Braves starter Jair Jurrjens pitched well enough to win most nights, giving up four hits and one run while throwing a career-high 120 pitches in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out seven with two walks.

But his counterpart, left-hander Paul Maholm, worked out of every tight situation over his seven scoreless innings of four-hit ball. He also got a little bit of run support, which Jurrjens did not.

The Braves entered Friday as the National League leader in batting average with runners in scoring position (.382), which included a stunning .442 mark (19-for-43) in those situations with two outs.

But against the Pirates, playing again without injured Chipper Jones and for the first time without Yunel Escobar, the Braves looked nothing like the team that went 8-for-8 with runners in scoring position in an 8-5 win against Washington on Sunday. (The Braves haven't won since then.)

What they resembled Friday was the 2008 Braves , a 90-loss bunch that too often failed to produce good situational hitting or convert on scoring opportunities.

Escobar leads the National League with his 7-for-10 hitting with runners in scoring position, and no one picked up a bit of the slack caused by his absence Friday. He strained an abdominal muscle Thursday and hopes to play Saturday or Sunday.

In the second inning, the Braves couldn't get a run in after loading the bases with none out. Sound familiar? Only this wasn't like last season, when Jeff Francoeur struggled like no other hitter in those situations.

Francoeur did his part Friday. Had three hits and raised his average to .350.

Brian McCann was hit by a pitch to start the second inning, and Francoeur and Martin Prado followed with singles.

But Casey Kotchman, with an opportunity to stake Jurrjens to an early lead, popped out to the catcher on the infield-fly rule. Suddenly slumping rookie Jordan Schafer grounded to Maholm to start an inning-ending double play.

In the fourth, after Francoeur hit a one-out single, Prado lined into a double play. And in the fifth, Maholm walked Schafer with one out and walked Kelly Johnson with two outs before Omar Infante flied out to strand both.

Maholm hit McCann with a pitch with one out in the sixth inning, but two routine grounders later, the inning was over.

The Braves wasted a scoring opportunity in the eighth against lefty reliever John Grabow when they stranded two runners.

NEXT FOR Braves

* Who: at Pirates

* When: 12:35 p.m. today

* TV; radio: SPSO; 640/96.1