Jared Jones is pulled after six perfect innings, then Joey Bart's late homer beats the Pirates

Colin Beazley, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Jul 8, 2026

Published in Baseball

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PITTSBURGH — As Jared Jones descended the steps into the Pittsburgh Pirates’ dugout, he spotted manager Don Kelly’s outstretched hand. He tried to sneak past. Kelly, grinning, wouldn’t let him until Jones reciprocated his hug.

And so ended Jones’ bid at perfection. Eighteen up, eighteen down, as impressive a start as any.

Perfection lasted one more hitter. The shutout ended in the eighth. And Jones’ gem was undone by his former teammate, as Joey Bart’s two-run homer off Dennis Santana led his Atlanta Braves to a 3-0 win against the Pirates on Wednesday night at PNC Park.

Jones threw 77 pitches. His high this season was 81. Since returning from an internal brace procedure on his elbow on May 29, he had not completed six innings. He did that Wednesday.

Kelly’s decision was unpopular, booed by most of the 20,062 in attendance. Those boos were louder when Mason Montgomery allowed a one-out single when Ozzie Albies lined a ball off Nick Gonzales’ glove and into left field.

There has never been a combined perfect game in MLB history, a streak that remained intact Wednesday night.

Jones was dominant through all 18 batters, recording eight of his outs via strikeout. He threw 53 strikes. He got 14 whiffs, despite throwing almost entirely fastballs and sliders. He threw just one curve, which struck out Matt Olson, and one changeup.

The issue for the Pirates was Braves right-hander Grant Holmes matched Jones with five zeroes, although he allowed three singles and hit a batter; and four Braves relievers kept the Pirates scoreless. Closer Raisel Iglesias pitched a clean ninth for the save.

The loss snapped the Pirates’ three-game winning streak. It was their eighth shutout loss of the year, but just their second since May 17.

It was over when …

… Drake Baldwin’s single off Isaac Mattson scored Michael Harris II in the ninth. Center fielder Jake Mangum came up chucking, but his throw sailed past catcher Henry Davis.

On the mound

Jones had completed five innings just once in seven starts this year before Wednesday. He’d thrown more than 75 pitches twice.

As great as baseball history would have been, the decision to prioritize Jones’ health was the right one.

At the plate

The Pirates managed just four hits, all singles. Ryan O’Hearn’s single in the sixth inning was their lone knock against four Atlanta relievers. They left seven batters on base.

Marcell Ozuna went 1 for 3 with a walk in just his second start of July. He struck out with a runner on to end the game.

Bart had the only significant contact off Jones, flying out to the wall in right-center in the third. Per Baseball Savant, it would have been a homer in all 29 other ballparks.

Bucs bites

— The Pirates had never before pulled a pitcher after six or more perfect innings.

— Fewer major leaguers have had three-homer, 10-RBI games than thrown perfect games … so after O’Hearn’s performance on Tuesday, Pirates fans still saw some history.

Up next

The Pirates will go for a series win on Wednesday when Mitch Keller (6-6, 5.02 ERA) faces Braves right-hander Bryce Elder (5-6, 4.01) at 12:35 p.m. ET.

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