It might have been the swing that saved the season, and nobody wanted it more than Brian McCann.
After striking out in a prime ninth-inning chance Monday night, McCann wasn’t about to foil his next turn in a similar situation. With two runners on, and the Braves staring down a five-game losing streak at the worst possible time, McCann launched a three-run homer to lead the Braves to a 7-1 win over the Marlins on Tuesday night.
“It wasn’t just a three-run homer,” said Dan Uggla, who followed with a three-run homer of his own an inning later. “That was one of the biggest home runs we’ve had this season as far as instilling confidence back in us and getting our swagger back.”
It’s just one win, yes, but the Braves knew it would go a long way toward dousing the hope that had been blossoming with the Cardinals and in breeding a little confidence in Atlanta.
On the day manager Fredi Gonzalez called a closed-door meeting to regroup, the Braves answered on the field. They held their wild-card lead at 4 1/2 games over the Cardinals with 13 games to play after Cardinals defeated the Pirates 6-4.
McCann had been dropped to the sixth spot in the order Tuesday night for the first time in three years, after hitting only .159 (14-for-88) entering the game since coming off the disabled list.
He had struck out looking Monday night with one out and the bases loaded in the ninth, when a sacrifice fly would have walked it off. On Tuesday night, with runners first and third and one out in the sixth, McCann watched only a couple of pitches to work ahead in the count 2-0.
Then he drove a Brad Hand fastball into the night, and over the center-field fence, to the delight of an ever antsy Braves fan base.
“Last night was rough for me,” McCann said. “To come back today and help the team out and get a win was huge for me.”
He said he decided to go with a lighter bat, and he came in for some early work in the batting cage Tuesday with hitting coach Larry Parrish.
The result was his first homer since Sept. 1. It also was the Braves’ first hit in five tries with runners in scoring position in the game, after they had gone 3-for-20 with runners in scoring position Monday.
He helped ease the pressure on everybody.
“Runs have been tough to come by the last week and a half, and to get three in one shot was a big, big home run,” Uggla said.
Uggla’s three-run homer in the seventh gave him a career-high 34 on the season, and he trails Albert Pujols by one for the National League lead.
McCann’s 24th home run of the season matched his career high set in 2006. With it, he gave the Braves their first lead — at 3-1 — since they were up 3-1 against the Cardinals on Friday night before a blown save by Craig Kimbrel started a four-game losing streak. This time the Braves’ bullpen nailed it down.
Arodys Vizcaino stumbled into some two-hit trouble in the eighth, but Jonny Venters relieved him with runners at the corners. He got a big assist from Alex Gonzalez who made a great leaping stab at a Jose Lopez liner to end the inning.
The Braves won for the 10th time in Mike Minor’s past 11 starts. He allowed only one run in 5 2/3 innings to lower his ERA to 3.33 in eight starts since his win over Toronto on June 21. He held at 5-0 over that span, and 5-2 on the season. Peter Moylan took the win after securing the final out of the sixth.
“I’ve been feeling better and better every time,” Minor said. “And I feel more and more a part of the team instead of just a fill-in. I feel like they kind of trust me now and lean on me a little bit.”
A leadoff walk in the fifth inning cost Minor his only run, after Emilio Bonifacio cashed in with an RBI single. But Minor buckled down and held the Marlins there, stranding a runner at third on a fly out and a line drive to Chipper Jones. He gave up four hits and four walks, and struck out five.
