PITTSBURGH -- Starling Marte took one swing and watched the ball fly. He rounded first base, raising his right hand and pointing the other toward the Pirates' dugout. His teammates rushed toward him at home plate, celebrating a game they did not lead until Marte finished his trip around the bases. Marte's walk-off blast in the 10th inning completed the second of the Bucs' two late-inning comebacks as they beat the Braves, 6-5, on Sunday afternoon at PNC Park.
The Pirates forced extra innings by stringing together a rally in the ninth against closer Jim Johnson -- a single, two walks and a savvy slide by David Freese. Then Nick Markakis and Brandon Phillips hit back-to-back singles to begin the 10th against left-hander Felipe Rivero, and Markakis scored on a groundout by catcher Tyler Flowers. Third baseman Adam Frazier had a chance to throw home but bobbled the ball, giving Markakis time to cross the plate and give the Braves a 5-4 lead. Frazier then led off the 10th with a double against reliever Jose Ramirez, and Marte crushed the first pitch he saw, a 97.9-mph fastball. The ball came off his bat at 104.8 mph, according to Statcast™, and landed a projected 410 feet away in the Braves' bullpen.

"I know I got the barrel," Marte said. "The wind was hard out, which helped me. I knew I got that one."
Julio Teheran cruised through seven innings, allowing only two unearned runs on six hits and a walk while striking out four as he outdueled the Pirates' Opening Day starter, Gerrit Cole. He was supported mostly by Freddie Freeman, who finished 4-for-5 with two homers, a double, three runs scored and a stolen base. Freeman went deep against Cole in the fifth inning and blasted a slider from Antonio Bastardo onto the concourse in right-center field in the seventh.
"Freeman had a day," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "Fortunately for us, we had a better day."
• Pirates win a total team effort
Cole gave up two runs in the first, one of them on a homer by Dansby Swanson, but settled down after that. He exited after allowing three runs over six innings in his second start of the season. Glad to see Teheran out of the game, the Pirates pulled within a run in the eighth inning, scoring on a single by Marte -- one of his four hits on the day -- and an error by left fielder Jace Peterson. They rallied again to tie it in the ninth, then again to win in the 10th.

"You can't give away that many runs and that many extra outs and expect to win games," Braves manager Brian Snitker said. "It's as simple as that. You've got to make plays better than we do.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Freeman unties it: With two outs and a man on second base in the fourth inning, Pirates first baseman Josh Bell pulled a line drive that glanced off Freeman's glove and bounced into foul territory for an RBI double that made it a 2-1 game. Bell came around to score quickly as shortstop Jordy Mercer swatted a game-tying single to center field. The rally may not have started if Freeman had caught Bell's hard liner, but Freeman quickly put the Braves back on top. In the fifth, Freeman jumped on a first-pitch curveball from Cole and crushed it over the left-field wall.

"We're giving them extra outs. It started with me," Freeman said. "I need to catch that ball and it's a pickoff there. They ended up scoring two runs that inning. We're just not catching the ball and fielding the ball right now."
Freese slides to tie it up: The most important play in the Pirates' ninth-inning rally may not have been a hit or a walk, but rather the hard slide Freese took into second base to break up a potential game-ending double play. Freese walked to load the bases for pinch-hitter Francisco Cervelli, who hit a ground ball to third base. Adonis Garcia threw to Phillips at second, forcing out Freese, but Freese's slide -- a "good, old-fashioned baseball play," as Hurdle called it -- prevented Phillips from making the turn and allowed Gregory Polanco to score from third. The Braves challenged the play, asking for a review to see if Freese violated the slide rule, but the call on the field was confirmed.

"In that moment, that late in the game, you've got to get it done," Freese said. "It's not really on the scorecard or anything, but you hustle and you just try to help the team."
QUOTABLE
"We don't have enough time to describe Marte. Fantastic player. I think probably, truly, the only five-tool player I've ever played with. He can do so many special things, and today he was a big difference-maker for us. That was really good."
-- Cole, on Marte
"It wasn't our best game, obviously, on a lot of different fronts. Obviously, I didn't throw enough strikes and put us in a bad spot. We almost still got out of it, but when you get in those situations, you try to throw as many strikes as possible. If you look at the line, they only got one hit and scored a run. That's kind of sloppy on my end. There's always room for improvement."
-- Johnson after suffering his first blown save of the season
• Braves endure frustrating opening week
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Freeman joined Marcus Giles (July 28, 2003) and Chipper Jones (Aug. 20, 2000) as the only players in Braves history to have four hits, two home runs and a stolen base in one game. He became the franchise's first player to homer twice in a four-hit game since his good friend Dan Uggla did it on June 5, 2012.

"It doesn't matter what you did today," Freeman said. "That is a tough one to swallow. We haven't been playing very good baseball to start the season off. So hopefully the day off tomorrow will help us get back on track."
The Pirates swept the Braves in Pittsburgh for the first time since April 29-May 1, 1994, when the Bucs reeled off three straight wins at Three Rivers Stadium against Steve Avery, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine.
REPLAY REVIEW
The Pirates nearly tied the game in the eighth, but Andrew McCutchen grounded into an inning-ending double play with the tying run at third base. The Pirates challenged the ruling, but the call stood after replay did not conclusively show McCutchen beat Phillips' throw to first base.

The Braves gained some early fortune when a replay review reversed Mark Rippenger's call that Freeman was thrown out attempting to steal second base with two outs in the first inning. After the inning extended with the call reversal, Markakis capped the two-run frame with an RBI single.

WHAT'S NEXT
Braves: After enjoying an off-day in Miami on Monday, Atlanta will begin a three-game series against the Marlins on Tuesday at 7:10 p.m. ET. Bartolo Colon will get the start in what will be the third home opener the Braves have experienced this year.
Pirates: Top prospect Tyler Glasnow, who won the Spring Training competition for the final spot in the rotation, will make his season debut against the Reds on Monday at 7:05 p.m. After an up-and-down debut last season, Glasnow improved as the spring progressed. Catcher Francisco Cervelli should be back behind the plate, and shortstop Jordy Mercer is likely to bat leadoff against Reds lefty Brandon Finnegan.
Watch every out-of-market regular-season game live on MLB.TV.