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McCann, Braves knock out Schilling and Red Sox

Jun 19, 2007 - 5:20 AM ATLANTA (Ticker) -- It may have taken almost six years, but Brian McCann and the Atlanta Braves finally beat Curt Schilling.

McCann homered and drove in four runs to power the Braves to an improbable 9-4 rout of the Boston Red Sox in the first of a three-game set at Turner Field on Monday.

Coming into this one, the 40-year old Schilling (6-4) had dominated the Braves. The fireballing righthander had not lost to Atlanta since August 10, 2001, a span of seven starts - and was a perfect 4-0 with a 1.18 ERA over his last five starts in Atlanta.

But the eighth time was the charm for the Braves.

Schilling, who entered the month 5-2 with a 3.60 ERA, was battered for six runs and 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings to drop to 1-2 in June. The Red Sox ace has allowed 15 runs and 29 hits in 23 1/3 frames in four starts this month.

"I'm not pitching well," Schilling said. "That's what chisels away your confidence when you (stink). That's what's happening. Especially with this team, I can go out and not throw well and still win games. But I didn't even give us a chance."

As a starter, Schilling walked two and did not register a strikeout for the first time since July 1, 1993 at St. Louis, a span of 348 starts, when the righthander was a member of the Phillies.

"I thought his stuff was flat tonight," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "He still knows how to locate and when he was, he was still OK."

Two games removed from taking a no-hitter into the ninth against Oakland, Schilling once again struggled with his velocity, barely breaking 90 miles-per-hour on the radar gun.

"He wasn't throwing 92 or 93 (miles-per-hour) like he normally does," McCann said. "He threw a lot more splitters, curveballs and cutters than what the scouting report said."

It was third-year catcher McCann who did the most damage. The Atlanta-area native struggled mightily on Atlanta's six-game road trip, collecting just three hits in 22 at-bats. But after returning to Atlanta, McCann went back home for a late Father's Day visit with his dad Howard, who runs a baseball academy.

After reviewing some videotape with his father, McCann made an adjustment.

"I was way off mechanically," McCann said. "He picked up on something right away. Within a short period of time, I felt like I did last year."

The extra work paid immediate dividends. McCann, who batted .333 with 24 homers and 93 RBIs last season, laced an RBI double into the left-center field gap in the fourth to break a 1-1 tie.

One inning later, the 23-year-old All-Star chased Schilling by smashing a three-run homer over a leaping Coco Crisp in center field to give the Braves a 6-1 cushion. The ball bounced off the hands of a fan back onto the playing field.

"It's the best I've felt all year long," McCann said. "I knew to go back where it all started. Something clicked."

McCann's heroics made a winner out of Atlanta starter Chuck James (6-6), who rebounded from a brutal start in Minnesota last Wednesday, where the southpaw allowed six runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 frames.

The 25-year-old scattered two runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings, walking four and striking out four en route to notching his first career win against the Red Sox. He also helped his own cause by driving in a run in the fourth.

"Last start, I pitched too straight up," James said. "I think I bent down and got my pitches down in the zone a little bit. I felt good."

With Schilling's woes, so go that of the Red Sox. Boston, which has dropped nine of 17 in June, saw its once hearty 14 1/2-game lead over the surging New York Yankees shrink to just eight games.

Crisp got the Red Sox on the board in the second by smashing a 2-1 pitch into the bleachers down the left field line to give Boston a 1-0 edge.

Atlanta evened the score in the third on a sacrifice fly by Kelly Johnson and plated a run in the sixth on a single by Edgar Renteria.

Scott Thorman capped the Atlanta scoring by smashing a two-run homer in the seventh off Boston reliever Mike Timlin.

Crisp collected four hits, including his first multiple-homer game this season, and J.D. Drew launched a solo shot in the seventh for the Red Sox, who lost for just the third time in 10 games against Atlanta.