Upon further review, Braves have another walk-off win

By David O'Brien

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

After further review, the Braves are winners. Replay said so.

Umpires used replay to rule on a walk-off home run by Brian McCann on Sunday, the first time a major league game ended on a call decided by using video replay.

Trailing 6-1 after seven innings, the Braves rallied for a thrilling 7-6 win with three runs in the eighth and three in the ninth, with the final-inning runs coming on homers by Matt Diaz and by McCann.

"If this continues we'll all either have heart attacks or make the playoffs, one or the other," Diaz said after the Braves' majors-leading 23rd win in their final at-bat.

McCann's homer off Marlins closer Leo Nunez was a line drive off the top of the padded right-field fence. The ball caromed off a wall behind the fence, back on the field.

Initially ruled a double, the call was reversed after umpires reviewed it using TV replay.

"I heard it hit the back tin [wall], so I knew that wasn't the sound of the pad," said McCann, who pleaded his case while standing on second base. "I knew it was a homer. I heard it hit.

"I was telling [umpiring crew chief] Tim McClelland, I promise you it hit [behind the fence]. I was begging for it."

McClelland, the second-base umpire Sunday, called the other umps to the infield. The four convened briefly before going to a small room near the visiting dugout, equipped with a television monitor specifically for the purpose of reviewing calls.

Since August 2008, baseball has permitted use of replay on home-run calls.

McCann said he was certain the call would be changed once the umpires decided to go to the replay room. McCann stood at second base, chatting with a couple of Marlins including second baseman Dan Uggla, who told him, "It's probably a homer, dude."

One minute and 26 seconds after they entered the replay room, the umps emerged and McClelland walked on the field and made a circular motion with his right index finger -- the signal for a home run.

Jubilant McCann ran from second base, rounded third, and spiked his helmet before entering a gauntlet of teammates waiting at home plate to mob him and celebrate the win on the first walk-off homer of the All-Star catcher's major league career.

On a day when starting pitcher Derek Lowe gave up a three-run homer before recording an out, and when Lowe lasted only three innings and surrendered five runs, the first-place Braves stormed back in the late innings – their innings – to pull out a win to protect their two-game lead over Philadelphia in the National League East standings.

Cristhian Martinez pitched four strong relief innings (two hits, one run) for the Braves and should've been named the game's MVP, said McCann, who received the honor.

"What team hits two homers in the ninth inning to win a ballgame?" said Diaz, whose first-ever pinch-hit homer was an opposite-field shot to right off Nunez, after Brooks Conrad drew a walk to start the ninth.

"Hopefully that means we're a team of destiny; we'll have to see; Diaz said. "We've still got a little under a month and a half left, a lot of baseball to play."

The Braves lead the majors with 240 runs after the sixth inning, and their majors-best 46-18 home record includes a 9-2 mark on Sundays.

They won Sunday after scoring one (unearned) run in six innings against Marlins ace Josh Johnson, who allowed three hits and had eight strikeouts, but was replaced after throwing 103 pitches.

"The name of the game was to hold them and hope Johnson builds up a pitch count, and he did exactly that," said Braves manager Bobby Cox, ejected in the sixth for arguing after an Eric Hinske strikeout. "[Johnson] is one of the dominant pitchers in all of baseball. He's hard to hit; we didn't do much with him."

They did plenty against Florida's bullpen, including three runs (one earned) charged to former Braves left-hander Will Ohman and three against Nunez (4-3), who took the loss and his eighth blown save.

Cox had a good view of the home run on TV, after being toss for the 157th time to extend his own major league record. He watched the rest of the game on a TV in his auxiliary office beneath the stadium, only a few steps from the dugout.

He was asked if he knew McCann's ball was a home run.

"I didn't know when he first hit it, because he hit it so low," Cox said of McCann's line drive. "But I had the privilege of seeing it [on replay] real fast, too, and I knew it was a home run.

"To get two home runs in the ninth inning, you're doing pretty good."