ATLANTA _ After making three starts in Triple-A, Rob Whalen was called up by the Braves to temporarily fill a spot in a depleted starting rotation, and in the first inning Wednesday that move was looking highly questionable.
But after the Pirates batted around in a four-run rude welcome of an opening frame, Whalen settled in and worked the next four scoreless innings, earning a win in his debut as the Braves rallied and rolled past Pittsburgh, 8-4, at Turner Field.
The Braves chipped away at that four-run first-inning deficit by scoring one run apiece in the second through fourth innings, then took the lead for good with two runs in the fifth on a Nick Markakis sacrifice fly and Ender Inciarte's go-ahead single that chased Pirates left-hander Jeff Locke (8-7) from the game.
Whalen didn't allow a hit after the second inning, retired nine of the last 10 batters he faced and was charged with four hits, four runs and four walks with five strikeouts. He also twice hit Starling Marte with pitches.
Inciarte and Erick Aybar had three hits apiece and Anthony Recker had two hits and two RBIs for the Braves, who out-hit the Pirates 15-4 and have won five of eight games since a five-game losing streak.
Whalen, 22, came to the Braves along with fellow pitching prospect John Gant in a July 2015 trade for veteran infielders Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe. Gant, currently on the disabled list with an oblique strain, debuted earlier this season and has pitched in 11 games (four starts) over several stints with the Braves.
Whalen, a 12th-round draft pick by the Mets in 2012 out of Haines City (Fla.) High School, just down the road from Braves spring training, has pitched in the past few seasons for Sand Gnats (Single-A Savannah) and Mudcats (high-A Carolina) and Scorpions (Arizona Fall League) among other outfits.
But he'd never worn a major league uniform until Wednesday, and as the first inning dragged on it looked like he might be a while before he wore one again.
With two outs and a runner at second base in the first inning, Whalen hit Marte before giving up a three-run homer to Matt Joyce on an 88-mph cut fastball with the count 0-1. David Freese followed with a single, consecutive walks loaded the bases, and a wild pitch to the pitcher Locke on a two-strike count let in the fourth run before Whalen got an inning-ending strikeout on his 36th pitch.
But when he came back out for the second inning, Whalen didn't have the same deer-in-headlights look about him. He set down the first two batters of the second inning before Jung Ho Kang's double, then got Marte on a fly out to end the inning.
Kang's double was the only Pirates hit in the second through fifth innings, and their only other base runners in that span reached on consecutive walks to start the third inning and another Marte hit-by-pitch leading off the fifth.
The Brave had cut the lead to 4-3 before Freddie Freeman led off the fifth inning with a walk. Matt Kemp followed with a double that landed just in front of center fielder Marte, who made a sliding catch attempt.
It was the first Braves hit for Kemp in his second game since the veteran slugger arrived in a trade from the San Diego Padres, and he added his first RBI on a sacrifice fly in a two-run sixth inning.
With runners at second and third in the fifth inning, Markakis and Inciarte drove in a run apiece to put the Braves ahead, 5-4. It was the second hit for Inciarte, who extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a leadoff single in the fourth inning and scored on Recker's double off the left-field wall.
