By Keith Parsons
The Associated Press

ATLANTA - Javy Lopez wasn't sure how to describe his resurgence, other than to say he's never felt this good at the plate. It shows.

Lopez hit a solo home run leading off the eighth inning, his second of the game, and the Atlanta Braves rallied to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-6 Saturday night.

On Thursday, Lopez hit a tiebreaking homer in an 8-4 victory over the Texas Rangers.

"I don't know what zone I'm in," he said. "I just feel I'm in the best shape of my career and this is the most comfortable I've been at the plate in my career."

Gary Sheffield, Andruw Jones and Chipper Jones also connected for the Braves, who lead the NL with 94 home runs. Andruw Jones, at 26 years old, became the seventh-youngest player to hit his 200th homer.

"I've never seen our guys like this," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "One through eight, anybody can hit it out."

Atlanta won its fourth in a row, and the Pirates lost for the fourth time in five games.

Lopez hit the first pitch from Brian Boehringer (3-2) to left-center for a 7-6 lead. Lopez has 16 homers this season after hitting just 11 all of last year.

"It was a fastball right down the middle," Lopez said. "You just try to take advantage of the mistake."

Marcus Giles singled to drive in Vinny Castilla later in the eighth for an insurance run.

In the sixth, Lopez hit another solo shot to bring the Braves to 6-5, and they tied it in the seventh on a run-scoring double by Giles.

Roberto Hernandez (5-2) pitched a scoreless eighth, and John Smoltz came on in the ninth for his 23rd save in 24 chances.

Reggie Sanders had two hits, scored a run and drove in another during a six-run fifth for Pittsburgh. Brian Giles, the older brother of Marcus, went 4-for-5.

"Their offense has been hot all year," Brian Giles said. "They're not 20 or 21 games over .500 for nothing. They have an explosive offense."

Sanders led off the fifth with a double off the glove of a sliding Chipper Jones in left field, and Jack Wilson hit a liner that bounced off pitcher Shane Reynolds for an infield single.

After a walk to Jeff Reboulet loaded the bases, pitcher Kip Wells singled up the middle to drive in two runs, and Kenny Lofton also singled. That loaded the bases again, and Reboulet scored on a single by Jason Kendall.

That finished Reynolds, and Brian Giles greeted reliever Ray King with an infield single to first, scoring Wells. Lofton scored on a sacrifice fly by Aramis Ramirez and, after Randall Simon struck out, Sanders capped the inning with an RBI single.

Cox blamed Reynolds' struggles on a steady rain during the fifth.

"That's no excuse," Reynolds said. "I definitely couldn't throw my split. It was up and away, up and in. Still, I didn't execute my other pitches in that inning to get a groundball, get a stop somehow."

The Braves took a 4-0 lead against Wells on solo homers by Sheffield and Andruw Jones, and a two-run shot by Chipper Jones.

"You can't make mistakes in the areas of the plate where they can hurt you," Wells said. "The balls they hit out weren't where they were supposed to be. But they put good swings on the ball. You have to give them credit."

Notes

Ramirez singled in the fourth to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 19 games. ... The players who reached 200 home runs faster than Andruw Jones were Mel Ott, Eddie Mathews, Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Mantle, Alex Rodriguez and Frank Robinson. ... A day after the series opener was postponed by inclement weather, a steady rain fell for most of the first five innings. During the Pirates' six-run fifth, the grounds crew came out and sanded the mound and the area around home plate.