• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

McCann's slam helps Braves rout Marlins

Aug 28, 2007 - 3:04 AM MIAMI (Ticker) -- Brian McCann's grand slam highlighted a five-run fourth inning as the Atlanta Braves routed the Florida Marlins, 13-2, on Monday.

Matt Diaz had four hits, including his 10th home run of the season, and Lance Cormier snapped a four-game losing streak as the Braves (68-64) sit 3 1/2 games behind the San Diego Padres (70-59) in the National League wild card race.

Cormier (1-4) allowed two runs on six hits over seven innings. The righthander struck out five and walked three to earn his first win of the season.

"We hit the ball good again," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "McCann with the grand slam ... everybody hit tonight. It was just one of those good nights with the lumber. I thought Lance pitched pretty darn good, so that was helpful."

After taking a 5-2 lead through three innings, Atlanta cemented the victory in the fourth.

Diaz began the scoring with one out in the inning on a solo blast off Marlins starter Scott Olsen. Chipper Jones followed with a single before Mark Teixeira lined out to third for the second out of the inning.

Third baseman Miguel Cabrera was charged with an error after failing to handle a ground ball by Jeff Francoeur.

Andruw Jones walked to load the bases before McCann's fourth grand slam of his career put the Braves up 10-2. McCann has hit two grand slams this week - the first was last Monday in a victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

"I got a 2-0 count, I got a fastball up a little bit and I didn't miss it," McCann said. "Everybody's getting on in front of me and I'm lucky - I get the big hit."

Olsen (9-12) never got on track, as the Braves scored three times in the first and twice in the third before putting the game out of reach in the fourth. Olsen allowed 10 runs - six earned - on 11 hits, lasting just four innings while walking two and striking out four.

The reeling Marlins have lost 12 of their last 13 games.

"Losing's not fun in general," Olsen said. "Whether you lose one in a row, two in a row, three in a row. Preferably you don't want to have a streak like this, but somehow we seem to find a way to lose every day. Today was my fault."

Diaz missed hitting for the cycle by a triple.

"If I had to do it all over again, I guess I would have tried for the triple on the first one," Diaz said with a grin. "But with nobody out and Chipper coming up you don't want to make the first out at third."

Diaz, Chipper Jones, and Francoeur all hit RBI doubles in the first inning for the Braves.

The Marlins narrowed the lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the inning. After Dan Uggla doubled with one out and advanced to third on Mike Jacobs' single, Cormier threw a wild pitch, allowing Uggla to score.

Chipper Jones picked up his second RBI of the game in the third, driving in Diaz, who led off the inning with a double. Three batters later, Andruw Jones singled, plating Chipper Jones as the Braves took a 5-1 lead.

Uggla hit his 26th home run of the season, a solo blast, in the third inning, and has now homered in three straight games. Cormier has now allowed six home runs in his last three starts, a span of 23 1/3 innings.

"It did feel good to go out there and pitch a good game and help the team get a win," Cormier said. "The bats carried us tonight, obviously." "We gave him an early lead and Lance pitched awesome with it," Diaz said.

Atlanta scored three times in the final five innings, including Kelly Johnson's 16th home run of the year, a solo homer to lead off the seventh, to account for the 13-2 final score.

"We're playing really solid baseball," Cox said. "You've got to have a little luck occasionally and tonight we had plenty of it."

Cormier was the only Braves starter without a hit, not that it bothered him.

"I'll take 0-for-4 every night - because it means I'm in the game long enough to get four at-bats and we're hitting the ball," Cormier said.

Florida has lost its last seven at home.

"I think a lot of things need to change," Marlins outfielder Josh Willingham said. "We need to get some breaks in this game but we've got to make our own breaks. Maybe we need to play a little harder. Maybe we need to execute better, pitch better, catch the ball, throw the ball and we've got to hit. "We're not doing the little things right."