"If the Braves advance to the World Series, they can thank Brian McCann for getting them home-field advantage when they get there.

The Braves catcher belted a three-run double in the seventh inning to lift the National League to a 3-1 win against the American League in the All-Star game Tuesday night at Angel Stadium, snapping the AL's 13-game winning streak.

"This whole night has been surreal," said McCann, whose two-out hit earned him the game's Most Valuable Player award and secured home-field advantage for the NL champion in the 2010 World Series. "It's something you dream about as a little kid, a moment I'll never forget.

"We're in first place and we're playing great as a team. This night can't get any better."

The only player in Braves history to make the All-Star team in each of his first five seasons, McCann finally got his big moment on the stage of a Midsummer Classic. His first hit in five career All-Star at-bats propelled the NL to its first All-Star win since 1996 in Philadelphia.

"It's been 13 years, and to be on the team that wins the game, that's great," said Braves second baseman Martin Prado, a first-time All-Star. "For my teammate to be the MVP of the All-Star game, that's awesome. I'm so happy for him."

McCann spent the first half of the game on the bench and ended it as the game's Most Valuable Player. An official from the National Baseball Hall of Fame went to the visiting clubhouse with McCann after the game and collected the bat he used on his game-winning hit.

McCann was happy to turn over the black bat, which will go on display at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

He entered as a pinch-hitter in the fifth and flied out to the warning track with two out and two runners on base. But when McCann came to bat with bases loaded in the seventh, he pulled a pitch to right against White Sox left-hander Matt Thornton, turning a 1-0 deficit to a 3-1 lead.

"I was lucky enough to be put in two situations [with a chance] to help the team tonight," McCann said. "I got a pitch up in the zone and I was able to get good wood on it. Thornton throws 97, 98 miles an hour from the left side. I've faced him a couple of times before."