JUSTIN K. ALLER / GETTY

Adam Frazier slides safely ahead of the throw to the Braves' Sean Murphy for the winning run in the ninth inning.

The Pirates found a way to turn the tides this afternoon, just one day after committing a slew of mistakes in an extra-inning loss. 

On this day, the Pirates generated offense with aggressive baserunning and timely hits, and played clean defense. Carmen Mlodzinski also turned in the best start of his career before Joey Bart drove home Adam Frazier in the ninth inning to beat the Braves, 4-3, and take the weekend series at PNC Park. 

Here's Bart's game-winning hit: 

This was the Pirates' second win in 10 games and the first series win since April 22-24 against the Angels in Anaheim, Calif. 

"We were looking for that," Bart said. "Played a good team and won the series, so can't complain. Just gotta keep moving." 

Bart's hit wasn't flashy, but it put Atlanta shortstop Nick Allen in a position where he was unable to turn a double play or gun down Frazier at the plate. 

Frazier came off the bench in the ninth inning and ultimately got things going for the Pirates with a leadoff single off closer Raisel Iglesias. He then went first to third on a weakly-hit single by Ke'Bryan Hayes before scoring the game-winning run.

"That's one of the hardest things in sports, to come off the bench, get a pinch hit against a closer," Bart said. "As soon as that got moving, it seems like we caught a break on that swing (by Hayes), and those breaks we haven't really been catching. Good things happen when you put the ball in play, and that's what happened there in the ninth."

That wasn't the first time the Pirates benefitted from an aggressive approach on the bases and putting the ball in play. They scored three runs off reigning National League Cy Young winner Chris Sale in the fifth inning after Jared Triolo and Hayes reached first and second with singles. The Pirates then executed a double steal to move into scoring position with one out. 

Triolo scored on a passed ball and Andrew McCutchen drove in Hayes with a sacrifice fly. Bart scored Bryan Reynolds with a single later in the inning to give the Pirates a three-run lead. 

"The fight that these guys had, continuing to grind, continuing to put together good at-bats," Don Kelly said of his first weekend as manager. "Frazier getting the pinch-hit off the bench. Key, with two strikes, finding a way to move the ball forward. It was just great to see the resiliency there and the way that they continued to fight and come out on top.”

The Pirates, who had 10 hits for the first time in 16 games, finally found ways to capitalize on opportunities to score after stranding 14 runners and going 2 for 18 with runners in scoring position last night. They haven't had success with the latter — their .224 batting average with runners in scoring position ranks 26th in Major League Baseball. 

"Just got to trust that, one through nine, somebody's going to come through," Bart said. "And that's the message. It's not always going to be the guys in the middle of order. Someone at the bottom, someone off the bench is going to come through. That's why they're in this uniform. These lockers are earned. So we've got guys that should feel confident getting the job done." 

The four runs the Pirates scored complemented the fact that they -- a team that ranks 24th in MLB with 28 errors -- didn't commit an error and benefitted from Mlodzinski holding the Braves scoreless over five-plus innings. The visitors did score three runs in the eighth to pull even, but the Pirates persevered. 

"If you play a clean game of baseball, you have a chance to win," Frazier said. "Carmen set the tone and pitched pretty well. We got those couple runs early, which I think was good, and we've been running the bases aggressive the past few days. We played a clean game on defense, and that's what it takes to win. It's just a matter of keeping focus and attention to detail. If we keep working and paying attention to those things, it will start becoming a habit." 

The Pirates aren't close to resembling a team capable of turning things around on a larger scale. They're still 14-27 and have put together horrid offensive numbers as they've scored four or fewer runs in 17 consecutive games while averaging 2.35 per game. The Pirates also rank dead-last in the major leagues with 127 runs scored through 41 games. That's not a recipe to succeed, or support a group of starting pitchers that has allowed 14 earned runs on 34 hits over the team's last eight games while recording 30 strikeouts and 19 walks.  

It'll certainly take more. 

"The energy felt great, the dugout felt great and I think the guys just believed in themselves to go out there and do it," Kelly said. "That’s the recipe: Pitching, defense, timely hitting. We’ve just got to keep it rolling.”