Atlanta 5 Toronto 4
ATLANTA — Brian McCann thinks Mike Minor is close to delivering on his potential as a starting pitcher.
The next stop for Minor, however, is triple-A. Still, McCann, the Atlanta Braves’ five-time all-star catcher, believes Minor has shown he belongs in the major leagues.
“I think he’s getting more comfortable, more confident, more understanding of what he needs to do when he gets strike one,” McCann said. “He got so many swings and misses on his change-up.”
McCann hit a two-run homer, Jason Heyward had an RBI single and Minor ended a nine-start winless streak in Atlanta’s 5-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night.
The Braves have won three straight following a 1-5 stretch.
Toronto manager John Farrell, who called a team meeting before the game to let pitcher Ricky Romero address comments he made in criticizing the offence on Monday, watched his club struggle at the plate for the third straight game.
The Blue Jays have scored two runs in losing three straight for the first time since April 30-May 3. They have dropped eight of 12 overall.
Minor (1-2) allowed five hits, one run, one intentional walk and struck out a season-high eight in seven innings. After so many struggles since last August, Minor took some good advice from teammates who told him to relax during his bullpen session.
“Before the game they were saying have fun, pitch to contact,” Minor said. “Don’t walk anybody.”
Minor, a first-round draft pick in 2009, was optioned to triple-A Gwinnett after the game with right-hander Brandon Beachy coming off the disabled list and starting Wednesday against Toronto.
The Braves have already called up Minor three times this season. Before Tuesday, the left-hander had gone 0-4 with a 9.07 earned-run average over his last nine starts.
“It seems like he was still a little timid up until tonight,” Jones said. “I told him in spring training, you’ve got to come out of the bullpen breathing fire. That’s how you earn the respect of the everyday players.”
Toronto led 1-0 in the first on Adam Lind’s RBI single, but Chipper Jones’ sacrifice fly tied it in the bottom half.
Atlanta took a 4-1 lead in the third on McCann’s 12th homer and Alex Gonzalez’s RBI double off rookie Zach Stewart (0-1), who allowed 10 hits, five runs, three walks and struck out two in 3 2-3 innings.
After Heyward put the Braves ahead 5-1 with an RBI single in the fourth, Stewart intentionally walked McCann to load the bases. Reliever Marc Rzepczynski limited the damage, though, by striking out Freddie Freeman on three pitches.
McCann, who went 2 for 3, is hitting .327 with 10 homers and 22 RBIs since May 17. He has reached base safely in 22 of his last 28 games.
“I’ve been seeing the ball well all season long,” McCann said. “And early in the year, I talked to my brother (Brad McCann) about some adjustments and ever since we’ve talked I’ve been able to really let the bat fly through the zone. I’m lucky to have people in my family that understand baseball and understand hitting.”