Flushing, NY – Brian McCann belted a two-run homer and a two- run double, powering the Atlanta Braves to an 11-3 win over the New York Mets in the middle installment of a three-game set at Citi Field.
McCann finished 4-for-5 after coming in 0 for his last 17 and went deep for the first time since July 31.
Dan Uggla scored three runs for the NL wild card-leading Braves, who have won four games in a row.
"This is what we're capable of (offensively)," said Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez. The Braves had scored a total of five runs in their previous four games.
Kris Medlen (8-1), the NL Pitcher of the Month for August, continued his dominating stretch, holding the Mets to two runs on four hits with two walks over six innings.
The Atlanta pitching staff had tossed three consecutive shutouts.
Lucas Duda knocked in two of the three New York runs, while rookie Jeremy Hefner (2-6) was tagged for five runs on eight hits and two walks in 2 2/3 innings of work.
"He was missing with everything that he was throwing," New York manager Terry Collins said about Hefner.
The Mets have dropped four of five overall and 18 of their last 22 home games.
Atlanta got on the board in the second inning, but the Mets limited the damage to one run.
Uggla hit a leadoff single and McCann followed by beating the shift with a bunt down the third-base line. Both men moved up on a wild pitch before Jose Constanza hit a chopper back to the mound that deflected off Hefner for an RBI single.
McCann was then erased at third on a Medlen bunt and Hefner retired Michael Bourn and Martin Prado on fly balls to end the inning.
Atlanta managed to build on its lead in the third and chase Hefner from the mound.
Freddie Freeman singled home Jason Heyward, who had sparked the four- run frame with a leadoff double, and scored in front of Uggla, who walked, on McCann's double to the gap in left-center. Medlen helped his own cause with a two-out, run-scoring double over the head of Jordany Valdespin in center.
Duda plated David Wright in the fourth, the first earned run allowed by Medlen in 40 1/3 innings. The Mets were the last team to score an earned run against him on Aug. 11.
McCann blasted his 19th home run of the season in the fifth and Chipper Jones added an RBI groundout in the sixth, extending the Braves' lead to 8-2. Pinch- hitter Ronny Cedeno homered in the bottom of the fifth for New York.
There was a 75-minute rain delay prior to the top of the seventh and the Braves quickly loaded the bases when play resumed. Prado extended the lead to eight with a two-out, two-run single.
Wright scored on a Duda double in the eighth, and Eric Hinske capped the scoring in the ninth with a pinch-hit home run for Atlanta.
Game Notes
The Braves have won Medlen's last 19 starts ... New York second baseman Daniel Murphy went 0-for-3, snapping his hitting streak at nine games.
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