Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - Ben Sheets made the 250th and final start of his major league career Wednesday as the Atlanta Braves blanked the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-0, in the regular-season finale for both teams at PNC Park.
Sheets, 34, announced his retirement on Tuesday, and briefly showed why he was the 10th overall draft selection by the Milwaukee Brewers in 1999.
The Louisiana native pitched the first inning, did not allow a run and struck out a pair for the Braves (94-68), who will face the St. Louis Cardinals at home in the NL wild card matchup on Friday.
Luis Avilan (1-0) earned the win with a scoreless second inning in relief of Sheets.
Chipper Jones picked up a pinch-hit single and a run scored in his final regular season game, with J.C. Boscan, Dan Uggla, Martin Prado and Juan Francisco all knocking in runs in the victory.
A.J. Burnett (16-10) allowed four runs on eight hits with a pair of walks and three strikeouts for the Pirates (79-83), who finished below the .500 mark for the 20th consecutive season.
Andrew McCutchen went 1-for-3 in the loss and finished the regular season with a .327 average.
