ATLANTA (AP) - Jose Bautista isn't too concerned about Toronto's offense, insisting that nobody is pressing to deliver a clutch hit.

``You run into good pitching, and it happens,' Bautista said. ``The Braves have done a good job, and the Reds pitched well against us in Cincinnati. It's only been three games. It's nothing major.'

Advertisement

Brian McCann hit a two-run homer, Jason Heyward had an RBI single and Minor ended a nine-start winless streak in the Atlanta Braves' 5-1 victory over the 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 offense on Monday, watched his club struggle at the plate for the third straight game.

Shut out by Tim Hudson and Craig Kimbrel on Monday, the Blue Jays have scored two runs in losing three straight on the road for the first time since April 30-May 3. They have dropped eight of 12 overall.

Even Bautista, a slugging right fielder with 75 homers over the last two years, has gone deep just once in his last 22 games. He went 0 for 4 for the second straight night.

``I don't think anybody's concerned,' Bautista said. ``We've just got to turn the page, come out tomorrow and try to score more runs.'

Minor (1-2) allowed five hits, one run, one intentional walk and struck out a season-high eight in seven innings. A first-round draft pick in 2009, Minor 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 ERA over his last nine starts.

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, but McCann's recent success hardly made Stewart, who made his second career start, feel better.

``I just left a few balls over the middle of the plate,' Stewart said after his ERA rose from 2.57 to 5.91. ``The mistakes I made, they took care of and did their job on. I guess that's what you find out is the difference in the major leagues and minor leagues is the amount of mistakes they'll let you make. I made too many.'

Minor escaped a jam in the fourth after Lind singled and moved to third on Jose Molina's double with one out. But after striking out Rajai Davis and intentionally walking Mike McCoy, Minor held his 4-1 lead with a strikeout of Stewart. He retired the last 10 batters he faced.

Eric O'Flaherty and Jonny Venters combined to hold the Blue Jays without a baserunner in the eighth and ninth.

Rzepczynski retired seven straight batters before Jason Frasor faced the minimum in the seventh. Octavio Dotel pitched the eighth.

The Blue Jays never gave themselves much of a chance against Minor and two relievers.

``We're going to be OK,' Bautista said. ``We've got good hitters. We have a good team. It's a long season. We'll be fine.'

Notes: Jones returned to the lineup after missing four games with a right adductor strain and went 1 for 3 with a run scored. ... Rzepczynski has held left-handed hitters to a .172 average (10 for 58) this season. ... Toronto has just one series win against the NL since 2004. ... Atlanta purchased the contract of veteran infielder Julio Lugo before the game and optioned Diory Hernandez to Gwinnett.