McCann hitting break on a high

SAN DIEGO --- All-Star catcher Brian McCann says he likes being "locked in." His Atlanta Braves teammates like him that way, too.

McCann homered and drove in three runs to help the Braves rout the San Diego Padres 12-3 on Sunday in the rubber game of the three-game series.

McCann, who made the All-Star team for the third time, extended his on-base streak to eight plate appearances. That includes three walks Saturday night and a walk and hit by pitch along with his 3-for-3 showing Sunday.

"It's good to be locked in. You try to stay locked in as long as you can, because you know that at some point, you're gonna come out of it," McCann said. "Baseball's up and down. I was down for about two or three weeks where I wasn't hitting anything. That's just baseball."

McCann hit his 18th home run off of Padres reliever Josh Banks in the seventh inning. That was after his RBI single in the Braves three-run first inning and before his RBI double in a three-run ninth.

"I think Brian is one of those cerebral hitters who's able to make adjustments on the fly," said Chipper Jones, who will join McCann at the All-Star Game. "Not everyone can do that."

Braves manager Bobby Cox notched his 2,300 career win, fourth all-time among managers.

"Oh, I didn't know that. Now I can tell my wife. She always asks me, and I never have a clue," Cox said.

"We hit the ball pretty good today. I think this will give them a good feeling for a four-day break."

The Braves went into the break at 45-50, 61/2 games behind the Phillies in the NL East. It marked just the third time in the past 18 seasons that the Braves have reached the All-Star break below .500.

The woeful Padres lost their second in a row and are 37-58, 10 games behind Arizona in the NL West. They are 23-30 at home and 14-28 on the road.

Atlanta rookie Jorge Campillo, who had more than 40 family and friends from his hometown of Tijuana at the game, tossed six strong innings to even his record at 4-4. He had to leave the game in the top of the seventh when he fouled a pitch off his left foot.

Mark Teixeira had two doubles and two RBI, and Brent Lillibridge went 3-for-5 with two RBI.

The Braves took a 3-0 lead in the first on Teixeira's two-run double off Padres starter Randy Wolf (6-9). Atlanta chased Wolf with a five-run sixth inning that featured five singles and tacked on three more runs in the ninth.

Wolf gave up six runs and six hits in five innings.

Braves starter Tim Hudson made the first Major League relief appearance in his nine year career, pitching a perfect eighth. He had made 301 previous starts.

Kevin Kouzmanoff, who had three hits, drove in two of the Padres runs with an RBI single in the first and his 12th home run in sixth off Campillo.