McCann to get checked out by eye specialist

Pittsburgh — Brian McCann was out of the Braves lineup Sunday for ongoing problems with his left eye. The All-Star catcher expects to know soon whether it’s a serious matter.

McCann, mired in a 1-for-20 slump, has been plagued by blurry vision and dryness in one eye since opening day. He hopes to get some answers after he’s examined by a specialist today in Washington, D.C., where the Braves open a three-game series against the Nationals.

“It’s going to be a day-to-day thing,” said McCann, who began using a once-daily prescribed antibiotic ointment, along with eye drops six times per day. “It could clear up tomorrow, but it might not. I just don’t know yet.”

If he needs another Lasik surgery, McCann might miss several games and perhaps require time on the 15-day disabled list.

But first, doctors want to determine if his problem has more to do with dryness, from an irritant or a tear-duct issue.

“I hope they get it resolved with these new drops,” said Braves manager Bobby Cox said. Cox had planned to start backup catcher David Ross Sunday because McCann was expected to have blurrier vision from the new ointment he began using before going to bed Saturday.

Ross had a double and three-run homer in an 11-1 win at Pittsburgh.

McCann saw a doctor recently in Atlanta, and was told he had a couple of “dry spots” in the left eye, along with slightly diminished vision in that eye.

He wore a special contact in the eye for one week, with no improvement. The blurring is worse under the lights in night games. His average is at .200, including .167 (4-for-24) in night games.

McCann had Lasik surgery on both eyes after the 2007 season and no vision problems in 2008, when he hit .301 with 42 doubles, 23 homers and 87 RBI and won a Silver Slugger Award as the National League’s best hitting catcher.

While recent tests showed his vision was no longer 20-20 in the left eye, McCann said doctors want to see how the eye reacts to drops and ointment before determining if he would require another Lasik procedure.

If he does need more Lasik, McCann said it would be a “tweak” and not necessarily be something that would require him to go on the DL.

Anderson dinged

Keeping left fielder Garret Anderson on the field is proving to be difficult in his first two months with the Braves. He left Sunday’s game after three innings with tightness in his left quadriceps muscle and was listed as day-to-day.

Anderson, 36, said he felt the muscle tighten when he scored from second base on Jeff Francoeur’s single in the first inning. Anderson had doubled with two out.

“As the game wore on, I just didn’t think it’d be smart to stay out there,” Anderson said. “Hopefully I didn’t do anything too bad to it at all, and won’t have to worry about it.”

Anderson signed as a free agent during the second week of spring training, and missed much of the Grapefruit League after pulling his right calf muscle. He missed four regular-season starts after tweaking the calf before an April 8 game at Philadelphia.

He doubled and flied out in two at-bats Sunday, raising his average from .174 to .200. For the season, he’s 5-for-25 (.200) with three doubles and no RBIs in 10 games, including 0-for-4 as a pinch-hitter.