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Atlanta Braves

SOX SLAMMED!

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BOSTON – (Wire Service Report) – Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a grand slam and Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies also homered to propel the visiting Braves to a 10-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday.

Acuna’s home run, his third of the season, came against reliever Greg Weissert and was part of a five-run sixth inning that handed Atlanta a 7-2 lead.

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Harris hit a solo home run in the seventh inning to extend Atlanta’s lead to 8-2, and Albies finalized the scoring with a two-run homer in the ninth. Albies had three hits for the Braves, who won two games in the three-game series.

Chris Sale (8-3) limited the Red Sox to two runs in five innings to earn the win. He allowed six hits, walked three and struck out eight. Danny Coulombe (0-2), responsible for three runs in the five-run sixth, took the loss.

Boston starting pitcher Payton Tolle was pulled with two outs in the fifth. He gave up two runs on five hits, walked two and struck out seven.

Boston’s Isiah Kiner-Falefa had two hits and reached base four times. The Red Sox also received two hits from Caleb Durbin.

The Braves grabbed a 2-0 lead by scoring twice in the fourth. After Matt Olson scored on a Jorge Mateo single, Dominic Smith hit an RBI single that drove in Albies to make it 2-0.

Boston responded by scoring two runs in the bottom of the fourth. Durbin drove in Kiner-Falefa with a double, and then Durbin scored on Jarren Duran’s single.

The Braves regained the lead when Coulombe loaded the bases with no outs and Mike Yastrzemski drew a bases-loaded walk from Weissert to break the 2-2 tie. Acuna followed with his grand slam to left center.

Jovani Moran gave up the home run to Harris, who also homered when the Braves beat the Red Sox 7-6 on Tuesday. Albies homered against Ryan Watson.

Boston has lost five of its last six games, and is 2-8 in its last 10 home games.

–Field Level Media

The Home of the Braves

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – In memory of media mogul – the late, great Ted Turner – the one time owner of the Atlanta Braves and SuperStation TBS, tonight’s Braves vs. Boston Red Sox is dedicated to the legion of fans created when Turner decided to launch his SuperStation and place his Braves games on every cable television household in America.

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For the youngsters in the group, back in the days of black and white television, there were 13 slots for television channels and a number of them went unused. There were three networks with national programming (ABC, CBS, and NBC). In each local market, there were a handful of others. As an example, in New York, there was Channel 5 (Metromedia, as FOX TV was yet to be a thing), then WOR TV – Channel 9 (which carried the Mets, Knicks and NHL Rangers), WPIX-TV 11 (which carried the Yankees), and Public Broadcasting, Channel 13.

When Cable TV first made its way through suburban and city households and apartments, the channel selection increased to a maximum of 33 slots, many were used by teletype messaging and music, as broadcasters had yet to adjust to the new availability and the eventuality that one day, there’d be an unlimited universe of cable tv channels.

Home Box Office (HBO) was an early adapter and with it came first run movies and some sports. HBO launched on November 8, 1972 with a New York Rangers vs Vancouver Canucks game, live from Madison Square Garden. By 1980, HBO launched Cinemax and the whole concept of premium channels to headline “basic cable” came about.

Turner was smart enough to grab a slot on basic cable and the larger number of households it served. The Braves and, to some extent, the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, became regular programming in homes all over the United States. With that exposure, Turner created his SuperStation, a golden opportunity for advertisers and, little did we know – fans – all over the States.

Of course, along with the Superstation came a little gem called Cable News Network – “CNN” – and then CNN Headline News, TNT, and a host of other channels which originated in Turner’s burgeoning Techwood Drive and Peachtree Street studios in Atlanta. Along with the multitude of programming, along came “man’s best friend,” the remote control. (In fact, we lovingly call our remote control, “Ted,” as in … “Can you please pass “Ted” over to me?”

With all of that as background, let us examine the crowd at Fenway Park for tonight, the second game of a three-game series between the Red Sox and Braves.

Fenway is packed with Braves fans. In some cases, there might be three generations of Braves fans in the groups, and most of them are not from Georgia. Braves fans are everywhere. The oldsters can be identified because of their Greg Maddux or Chipper Jones uniforms and sometimes you might even see a Henry Aaron or Rico Carty replica. Then come the John Smoltz or Phil Niekro uniforms, and don’t forget Dale Murphy and Andruw Jones.

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It all added up to national fandom, and to a great degree, the Braves earned the respect and admiration of their massive fanbase. The Braves posted 14 consecutive divisional crowns, and a couple World Series banners, to boot.

The Braves’ faithful enjoyed the series opener, an exciting 7-6 Braves’ win on Tuesday night at Fenway.

On Wednesday, maybe the TV audience changed channels to TruTV for the Carolina vs Montreal NHL Stanley Cup Playoff game? If they stayed for the Red Sox game, the fans would’ve seen Boston’s biggest inning at Fenway since a September 14, 2025 opening stanza against the New York Yankees.

In the bottom of the 4th inning, the Sox bats awoke. The outburst, combined with a stellar effort by Boston starter Connelly Early, resulted in an 8-0 Red Sox win on Wednesday night.

Base hits, walks, a couple Braves’ errors, a wild pitch, a stolen base and three consecutive singles by Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu placed six runs on the scoreboard, five of them earned and the barrage sent Atlanta starter Bryce Elder packing before reliever Dylan Dodd walked to the mound to ease the pain. Elder lasted only 3.1 innings and gave up nine hits.

On the flip side, Boston’s promising pitcher, Early, tossed seven innings of scoreless baseball, allowing only four hits with three walks. He struck out seven Atlanta batters and threw an efficient 97 pitches of which 65 were strikes. He earned his fifth win of the season (5-2).

The Braves and their fans will live to see another game, a Thursday afternoon rubber-game with a 4:10pm EDT start. Braves’ pitcher Chris Sale, the former Red Sox ace, will face Boston rookie lefty, Payton Tolle (2-2, 2.45 ERA). Braves fans will flock to Fenway, once again, while others tune-in on Braves Vision rather than TBS, as there’s been a lot of chance since the 1970s when SuperStations were king and Braves owner, Ted Turner, owned the throne.

Editor’s Note:

Ted Turner, the founder of CNN and a pioneering figure in the media industry, passed away on May 6, 2026, at the age of 87. His death marked the end of a remarkable career that transformed how news is consumed and established Atlanta as a media hub.

Early Life and Career
Birth: November 19, 1938, in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Education: Attended Brown University and served in the U.S. Coast Guard.
Business Beginnings: Took over his father’s billboard company after his father’s death in 1963.

Media Innovations
Turner Broadcasting System: Launched in 1970 with the purchase of a UHF station, which became TBS.
CNN: Founded on June 1, 1980, as the first 24-hour news channel, revolutionizing news broadcasting.

Contributions and Achievements
Sports Ownership: Acquired the Atlanta Braves in 1976 and the Atlanta Hawks in 1977, significantly impacting Atlanta’s sports culture.
Philanthropy: Donated over $1 billion to various causes, including the United Nations Foundation and environmental initiatives.

 

Sox Lose in Stride(r) vs. Braves

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By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – Boston Red Sox starter Ranger Suarez retired the MLB-leading Atlanta Braves in order in the top of the first of this three game series between the National League East leader and the American League East cellar-dwellers. That brought Red Sox lead-off hitter, Jarren Duran to the plate to face (one of) Atlanta’s ace pitchers, Spencer Strider.

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Strider returned to the Braves’ starting rotation May 3 after being placed on the club’s injured list on March 25, after a left oblique strain sidelined him in the final week of Spring Training. Strider worked his way back by making three minor league rehab appearances in April, going 0-1, but with a steady 1.42 ERA in 12.2 innings pitched. He also recorded 18 strike-outs in those 12 innings between the High A Rome franchise and Triple A Gwinnett.

Not bad, right?

Strider’s even tougher than that.

Tuesday night against the Sox at Fenway, Strider made his fifth start of the 2026 season. He owned a 2-0 record (and 3.00ERA) going into the game and considering the Braves are 51-27 in Strider’s starts, things weren’t looking too bright for the hometown nine.

Consider one more interesting nugget: Strider owned a .631 winning percentage (41-24) in his career with Atlanta, the third best mark among Braves pitchers since 1966 (at least 80 starts). That means Strider only trails Baseball Hall of Famers Greg Maddux (.688) and active phenom (and current New York Yankees’ ace) Max Fried (.670). Strider ranks ahead of Hall of Famer Tom Glavine (.624) on that Braves totem pole (no disrespectful pun intended).

Duran, batting .193 as the game began, decided Strider’s resume wasn’t all that impressive and rocketed an (0-1) pitch some 412 feet for his seventh home run of the season. It was his 10th career lead-off home run. It was highly unusual for both Duran and Strider, for sure. But, then Boston’s Ceddanne Rafaela stepped up to the plate and hit another whopper.

Rafaela’s homer travelled only 368 feet but went out of the ballpark at 101 mph to make the score Red Sox 2, Braves 0 before the 34,126 fans settled into their seats at the beloved joint. It marked the first time the Red Sox had back-to-back, lead-off homers since May 31, 2016 in Baltimore.

Strider settled in and the Braves gradually hacked away at that 2-0 deficit.

Atlanta first baseman Matt Olson tied the game in the fifth inning with a 2-run blast off Suarez. Olson’s homer traveled 428 feet at 105 mph and it brought Mauricio Dubon to the plate as well.

In Atlanta’s half of the sixth, a pair of doubles bookending a walk created three runs for the Braves with OF Michael Harris II providing the effort for two RBI to give the Braves a 5-2 lead.

The Sox picked up a couple runs, one in the sixth on a Mickey Gasper ground out (GIDP) that scored Wilyer Abreu and in the seventh on a Isiah Kiner-Falefa home run.

With the Braves leading 7-4 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, Atlanta closer Raisel Iglesias got the call but looked quite shakey in his attempt to put the lights out on Boston. Iglesias gave up a lead-off single to Gasper, then a double to second baseman Nick Sogard. Both Gasper and Sogard scored later in the inning when Kiner-Falefa singled.

Atlanta dug in on defense, made a tough SS Ha-Seong Kim to 3B Austin Riley force-out, then after a Duran single, Iglesius retired Abreu to end the game and preserve a 7-6 Atlanta victory.

Strider earned the win, his third, and Iglesias – somehow – placed a save in his column, the ninth for the veteran reliever while Sox starter, Ranger Suarez, took the loss. He’s (2-3) on the year after allowing five earned runs with six hits and three walks in his five innings pitched.

 

Red Sox Face MLB Best Braves

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It’s been a season full of questions for the Boston Red Sox, none more perplexing than this: Why has Boston struggled so much at Fenway Park?

The Red Sox are 8-17 at home, the worst mark in Major League Baseball, entering Tuesday’s matchup with the visiting Atlanta Braves, who happen to have Baseball’s best road record (19-8). Boston’s 6-5 loss to Minnesota on Sunday extended the team’s home losing streak to four games.

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“You can readily acknowledge (that) at some point this year, if we’re gonna do something, we’re gonna have to get going at home,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said. “It’s just that simple. These are not blowouts. We’re playing good baseball games. But we’re gonna have to win some games at home, no question.”

The Red Sox are 1-6-1 in home series this season. They haven’t won a series at Fenway Park since they took two of three games from Milwaukee by winning the rubber match on April 8.

“It’s tough,” Isiah Kiner-Falefa said following Sunday’s loss to Minnesota. “You look at the standings and somehow we’re still in it. So I think that helps a lot. I felt like this series would have been a big swing with our team, the fan base, getting the belief back and kind of going from there. So to get swept right here definitely hurts.

“We feel it. As a group, we really want to make our fan base proud and hopefully we can go on a run and get in this wild-card thing or maybe back in the division. But one step at a time. First we gotta find a way to stack some wins together at home and get back in the race.”

The Braves, who won two of the three games between the teams played in Atlanta earlier this month, are scheduled to start right-handed pitcher Spencer Strider (2-0, 3.00 ERA) on Tuesday. Strider has made two career starts against Boston and allowed three earned runs on nine hits in 11 2/3 innings (2.31 ERA), but didn’t get a decision in either game.

Boston is expected to go with lefty Ranger Suarez (2-2, 2.40 ERA). Suarez has made 22 appearances against Atlanta during his career, including 13 starts. He’s 4-4 with a 3.38 ERA and has recorded 86 strikeouts in 80 innings.

The Braves, who have the most wins in the major leagues (36), will be looking to jump-start their offense after being held to one run across two losses to Washington on Saturday (2-0) and Sunday (2-1). Atlanta was limited to one hit on Saturday and went 17 straight innings without scoring before pushing a run across in the ninth inning Sunday.

“It’s just difficult to go out and score six or seven runs every single night,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “So there’s going to be times where you have a handful of guys that are searching for it at the same time. I think that’s kind of what we’re going through right now.”

Matt Olson is batting .160 (8-for-50) with two extra-base hits in his last 13 games.

“He’s been so good since the start of the season that these things tend to level off,” Weiss said. “But, I feel really good any time Matt Olson is in the batter’s box. I feel like something good is about to happen, and it usually does.”

–Field Level Media

Red Sox and Braves Battle it Out

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ATLANTA – (Wire Service Report) – The Boston Red Sox and host Atlanta Braves have authored two dramatic finishes to begin their weekend interleague series.

What will Sunday’s rubber game have in store?

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Boston hands the ball to right-hander Brayan Bello (2-4, 6.46 ERA) as it looks to build off a 3-2 Saturday win, which came on the strength of a two-out, two-run home run by Willson Contreras in the eighth inning. Aroldis Chapman stranded the bases loaded in the ninth for a save, making the big swing and Payton Tolle’s eight-inning start stand tall.

“It feels great to be able to help the team,” Contreras said. “We’re trying to play better baseball, we’re trying to have better at-bats. … I come here every single day to play baseball and play for the guys. Tonight, we played for each other.”

Tolle and Bello have helped the Red Sox pitch the ball incredibly well in May, as their 2.34 team ERA for the month is tops in the American League.

Sunday is expected to be a true start for Bello, who has followed an opener in each of his last two outings. After going 1-4 with a 9.12 ERA through six starts to begin the season, Bello is 1-0 with a 1.35 ERA in his last two outings (13 1/3 innings).

Bello followed Jovani Moran into the game and ultimately tossed 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball in his Tuesday appearance against the Philadelphia Phillies.

“Sometimes you gotta flip something,” Boston catcher Carlos Narvaez said. “Flip that mentality, and coming out of the bullpen he probably thinks, ‘OK, I gotta be convicted right now. It’s not like, OK, I got five innings, 90 pitches.’ Something in his mind has changed.”

In three career starts against Atlanta, Bello is 1-1 with a 6.61 ERA.

The Red Sox started Saturday with shortstop Trevor Story being placed on the 10-day injured list with a sports hernia, but he is contemplating surgery that would sideline him for at least six weeks. Nick Sogard was recalled from Triple-A Worcester to take Story’s roster spot.

“He’s meant a lot to me in my transition here, the way he’s accepted me and pushed other guys to do so. So he’s a big piece of it,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said of Story.

The Braves were unable to duplicate their series-opening magic, as Mike Yastrzemski — a Massachusetts native and grandson of Red Sox legend Carl — hit a 10th-inning double to make the difference in a 3-2 Friday win.

On Saturday, they were held to just four hits by the duo of Tolle and Chapman. Drake Baldwin and Jose Azocar both had two, with the former leading off the bottom of the first with a home run. It was the team’s National League-leading 64th of the season.

“Bryce (Elder) was throwing the ball well, pitch count was OK. It’s unfortunate (to lose),” Atlanta skipper Walt Weiss said. “The game was going to be Bryce and Martin (Perez).”

Baldwin, the reigning NL Rookie of the Year, has swung a hot bat of late. He has socked first-inning homers in the first two games of the series.

“There’s no egos here,” Yastrzemski said earlier this week. “Nobody feels like they own any piece of this team. We’re all pulling on the same rope together, the same direction. Whatever opportunities come for you that day, that’s good enough.”

Grant Holmes (2-1, 4.35) looks to earn his first win since April 24 against Philadelphia and lift Atlanta in the series. Last Tuesday, Holmes allowed two runs on one hit and four walks while striking out five in a four-inning start against the Chicago Cubs.

The Braves have won four consecutive Holmes starts.

Holmes is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA in two career starts against the Red Sox, both coming in May of last season.

–Field Level Media

Yaz! – “Say It Ain’t So”

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ATLANTA – (Wire Service Report) – Atlanta’s Mike Yastrzemski’s leadoff double in the bottom of the 10th inning propelled the Atlanta Braves to a 3-2 win over the visiting Boston Red Sox in the opener of a three-game series on Friday night. The Massachusetts native and grandson of Red Sox legend and Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski lined a 1-2 pitch into left field and past Jarren Duran’s attempted cutoff throw, allowing automatic runner Ha-Seong Kim to score the deciding run from second base.

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Drake Baldwin went 2-for-4 with a home run that gave the Braves a first-inning lead. Michael Harris II also went deep before the Red Sox clawed back into a tie game with single runs in both the sixth and seventh innings.

The last of five Atlanta relievers to appear, Didier Fuentes (3-0) stranded two runners on base to post a scoreless 10th. Atlanta has won five of its last six  games.

Marcelo Mayer hit a game-tying homer while Mickey Gasper (2-for-5, RBI) and Ceddanne Rafaela (2-for-3, double) both had multiple hits to lead Boston, which has lost four of its last five.

Tyler Samaniego (0-2) gave up the game-winning hit.

Baldwin helped the Braves to a 1-0 start in the bottom of the first, knocking a one-out solo homer out to center field. Rafaela had the ball pop out of his glove as he attempted to make a leaping catch at the wall.

The Red Sox were held without a hit until Gasper knocked a leadoff single into right to begin the fourth, but Atlanta starter Spencer Strider wound up facing the minimum after Sandy Leon caught Gasper trying to steal second.

The bottom half of that frame saw Harris double Atlanta’s lead, crushing a leadoff line-drive shot into the bullpen in center. Boston starter Connelly Early retired the next two batters and worked around Jose Azocar’s two-out single to escape the inning without any further damage.

Strider also benefited from Rafaela being caught stealing following a leadoff double in the fifth and left with a lead after 5 1/3 despite the visitors coming within 2-1. After Carlos Narvaez knocked a leadoff double down the left field line, Gasper drove him home with a two-out RBI single off reliever Dylan Lee.

After Tyler Kinley induced back-to-back flyouts to start Boston’s seventh, Mayer’s towering blast out to right-center knotted the score.

The Red Sox had two on with two outs in the ninth with a chance to win the game, but Raisel Iglesias struck out Andruw Monasterio to end the inning. Aroldis Chapman then set down the Braves 1-2-3 to force extras.

–Field Level Media

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | May 10

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – If the City of Atlanta were to erect tent poles to hold up the town for the rest of time, or to carve out a Mount Rushmore in the Blue Ridge Mountains (93 miles from Atlanta) – two of the figures that would be set in stone – are two people who passed away this week.

Ted Turner, the visionary who changed the world by founding Cable News Network (CNN), amongst thousands of other amazing feats, including the expansion of one-time “SuperStation TBS,” and numerous acts of philanthropy throughout his life, passed away Wednesday at his home near Tallahassee, Florida. He was 87 years old and the cause of death was complications because of Lewy body dementia, a progressive brain disorder.

Turner once owned the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks in addition to the longtime NBA broadcast partners of the TBS and TNT networks before they were sold to Time Warner, along with Turner’s sports empire of the Hawks, Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball, and the now defunct Atlanta Thrashers of the NHL (Winnipeg Jets).

Bobby Cox, the beloved former manager of the Braves, and a Baseball Hall of Famer who led the Atlanta to five National League pennants and a World Series championship in the 1990s and was ranked No. 4 for career victories among major league managers, died on Saturday in Marietta, Georgia. He was 84. Cox had suffered a stroke in 2019 but a cause of death was not made public.

If you were to take it a few steps further, and add a third public figure it definitely would be the great Martin Luther King Jr. – born in Atlanta in January 1929 – who became one of the most important people in American history.

And, the final bigger-than-life icon would be Hank Aaron, unquestionably the most revered figure in Atlanta Braves franchise history and the No. 2 home run hitter in MLB history (755) with only Barry Bonds (762) ahead of “Hammering Hank.”

If there were a fifth, it would probably be Atlanta-born actress Julia Roberts. And, Dominque Wilkins would be a sixth.

Ted Turner at a Turner Classic Movies function (file photo).

Of those four incredible icons of Atlanta, the only one I had any interaction with was “Ted.”

Firstly, I know hundreds of people who were hired by or worked directly for Turner at his various networks or sports franchises. Not once did I ever hear a single bad word about him. Never.

Secondly, his employees loved the guy, and respected him beyond words of description. This week, many tried to put it into words, and one person, a good friend and colleague – Dr. Harvey Schiller – sat down for a “Talk about Ted” podcast with Columbia University professors of sports management Tom Richardson and Joe Favorito on their CUSP podcast.

To listen to the CUSP Podcast with Dr. Schiller, please click HERE.

Lastly, Turner dreamt-up a lot of incredible things and, as Dr. Schiller mentioned in his podcast, Ted always was intrigued by the International Olympic Committee and the parallel angle of utilizing sports as a way to bridge differences in the geopolitical world we live in. That interest became the Goodwill Games,

The Goodwill Games were staged in Moscow and St. Petersburg in Russia, and in Seattle and New York in the USA, but the Goodwill Games where I interacted with the Turner crew was held in Brisbane, Australia in 2001. It was terrific.

We (meaning the NBA) brought a talented team of first and second year pros to compete. Brisbane was showing off all of its attributes – a test run way back in 2001 that eventually resulted in the Gold Coast city being awarded the 2032 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Hey, it only took 31 years!

We also had some hysterical interactions with Ted when we took his Atlanta Hawks over to the (then) Soviet Union in 1988.

One of the exchanges went like this.

Scene Setter: The Hawks team was embedded at the Olympic Training facility in Suhumi, Russia – not far from Sochi where the 2014 Winter Olympics were staged. (It’s about a 5 hour, 30 minute bus ride from Suhumi to Sochi). A day or two into our stay, a massive thunderstorm ripped through the area, knocking out all forms of power but somehow spared a phone line.

Off the grid for some 36+ hours because of the storm, Goodwill Games unit coordinator for the trip, Kim Bohuny – who eventually became an integral part of the NBA’s global basketball operations efforts – made a phone call back to her boss, David Raith, who was with Ted Turner at the time of the call.

The rather short phone call went something like this:

Raith: “What can we do to help you guys? Do you need anything?”

Bohuny: (semi screaming into the faint sounds) – “Yes, we need FOOD and some WATER!”

Heard in Background was Ted Turner: “What the hell is going on over there?”

The next thing we knew, and maybe it took 48 hours, but Hawks head coach Mike Fratello was mixing up some pasta with marinara sauce and, as Hawks radio broadcaster, Steve Holman, said, “We ate as though it was our last meal and wee were headed to the Electric Chair.”

But the real joke was that we STILL didn’t have electricity in the dorms but Coach Fratello somehow boiled water and warmed his special Italian gravy.

It was so dark at night, that we had to attach ropes down the middle of the hallways to grab a hold of to get back to the stairs and our rooms. Whoever had the flashlight had to go with each person as they retired for the evening. It was fan-tastic.

Yet, as noted, not a single solitary word was ever uttered to complain about the Hawks, Turner Sports or Ted Turner who sponsored the trip. It was all one big family.

And, the family lost its patriarch this week while the City of Atlanta lost one of its three or four most important people of all-time.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES – It’s important to start the notes section with a call-out to all the Mothers out there! A very Happy Mother’s Day to all.

I must say, it’s very strange thinking of Mother’s Day and – for the first time in my life – the day is here and my Mom is not. Genevieve Ann Lyons passed away a few weeks after Mother’s Day of 2025 when she was 100 years and 57 days of age. An amazing life, and tough at the end, but I still miss her and think of the endless pool of memories from Mother’s Days gone by – some spent with her attending the NBA Draft Lottery and partaking in a very nice brunch when we staged the Lottery at halftime of a 1:00pm EDT NBA playoff game. I can remember her sharing a table with the legendary Celtics Hall of Famer, Tom “Satch” Sanders, who was my office next door neighbor for a decade or more.

In 1988, I can remember her making the trip to Madrid, Spain to witness the Boston Celtics play in the first McDonald’s Open held in Europe. (The first event was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin). She was able to take in some sight-seeing and incredible accommodations in Madrid, although I have to admit she didn’t get to see her son, working the event, all too often.

She did get to sit with Julius “Dr. J” Erving – the two Long Islanders – chatting up Nassau County high school basketball or memories of the New York Nets.

All very fond memories.

TIDBITS & NUGGETS – Johns Hopkins upset Cornell, 9-8 in OT, on Saturday with Hopkins coming back from a 6-3 deficit in the second half. With 1:15 left in overtime, Jimmy Ayers found the back of the net to grab the win over the defending National Champions. Johns Hopkins advanced to take on the winner of Jacksonville and 2-seed Notre Dame who play on Sunday, May 10th at Noon (ESPN2). Cornell finished with an 11-5 overall record. Hopkins’ quarterfinal will be played at Hofstra University on Long Island, NY. … Why the coverage of Johns Hopkins? Let the proud father make note that his oldest daughter, Victoria, graduated from the incredible institution in 2019.

THIS JEST IN – As long as we were on Baltimore, fans lined up well before the gates opened at Camden Yards, Maryland on Friday night in anticipation of a Tupac Shakur bobblehead giveaway at the ballpark. “I grabbed three of them,” Baltimore Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said before a 4-3 loss to the Athletics. Shakur was raised in New York and Baltimore before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1980s. He lived in Oakland, California, in the early 1990s, which made Friday’s matchup between the Orioles and Athletics an appropriate time to honor the rap icon, who was murdered in a drive-by in Las Vegas in September, 1996.

Saturday Baseball: Sox at Braves

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ATLANTA – (Wire Servi ce Report) – Boston’s Rafael Devers will have one final chance to pad his statistics for May when the Red Sox visit the Braves for the second game of their three-game interleague series this afternoon.

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Devers went 2-for-4 with a two-run single on Friday to continue his month-long offensive surge. In 27 games in May, Devers is batting .370 (37-for-100) with 14 runs, five doubles, seven homers, 33 RBIs and 22 walks. It is the second time in his career that Devers has driven in 30-plus runs in a month, the most recent time coming in July 2019, when he recorded 34 RBIs.

The Red Sox ended their five-game losing streak by beating the Braves 5-1 on Friday to even the season series at 2-2. The Braves have dropped seven of their past nine games to fall four games under .500.

The starting matchup on Saturday will feature a pair of right-handers — Atlanta’s Spencer Schwellenbach (3-4, 3.42 ERA) and Boston’s Walker Buehler (4-2, 3.95).

Schwellenbach is scheduled to make his 12th start. He saw his two-game winning streak broken on Sunday by the San Diego Padres after pitching seven innings for the third straight outing. He allowed four runs (two unearned) and matched his career high with 11 strikeouts in a 5-3 loss.

“This is a team of fighters and a lot of really good players,” Schwellenbach said. “We know we should be in every game and win every game. We have all the confidence that we’re going to play better baseball.”

Schwellenbach beat the Red Sox on May 18 when he allowed four runs in seven innings of a 10-4 win. In two career starts against Boston, he is 1-1 with a 7.71 ERA.

Buehler is set to make his ninth start of the season and is coming off a 5-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday, when he pitched five innings and allowed two runs on four hits and two walks. That appearance followed a start against the New York Mets, his first since spending time on the injured list with bursitis in his right shoulder. He didn’t last long; he was ejected after 2 1/3 scoreless innings for arguing balls and strikes.

“Obviously I wanted to create a little bit more momentum than I did,” Buehler said after that game. “Super disappointing for me. Sometimes getting on the road and kind of having the group together can kind of help out. I think that’s the goal this week.”

Atlanta continues to struggle offensively. Even Ozzie Albies, who had been batting .346 since May 13, went hitless on Friday to see his 14-game hitting streak end.

The Braves placed right-hander A.J. Smith-Shawver on the 60-day injured list Friday with a torn ulnar collateral ligament that will cost him the rest of the season, and they put outfielder Stuart Fairchild on the 10-day IL with a dislocated pinky finger. Atlanta called up left-hander Dylan Dodd and outfielder Jose Azocar from Triple-A Gwinnett and optioned right-hander Michael Petersen.

The Braves will recall right-hander Bryce Elder to make the start on Sunday. That will allow the team to give the entire staff an additional day of rest. Spencer Strider is scheduled to start the series opener against Arizona on Tuesday.

–Field Level Media

Fenway’s Bravest

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Servicce Report) – Perhaps a game-winning homer was just what the doctor ordered for the Boston Red Sox? Maybe it was the come-from-behind aspect that could fuel a slip-sliding ballclub?

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After erasing a 6-2 deficit over the final three innings to emerge victorious on a Rafael Devers’ game-winning home run on Saturday night, the Red Sox look to continue the momentum when they play a Sunday afternoon rubber game against the visiting Atlanta Braves.

The recent  American League Player of the Week, Devers’ first career clinching homer capped the Saturday comeback and a personal 3-for-4 effort for a player who started the season in a slump and a funk. Boston’s longtime third baseman-turned-designated hitter has a .411 average in 15 games this month and has reached base in 19 of his last 20 games.

“We all know who (Devers) is. He’s always the same guy,” Red Sox center fielder Jarren Duran told Fox postgame. “He could be 0-for-5 or 5-for-5 and he looks the exact same. I think people just need to trust him because we know what he can do.”

Prior to Saturday, Boston had been on a four-game skid and lost eight straight one-run games.

“We needed that one,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “I’m glad we got rewarded (on Saturday) but, hopefully, we can avoid these games and get a lead, add to it. It’s a lot of innings for the bullpen. You pay the price.”

Boston’s Braves

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BOSTON – (Wire Service Report) -Boston DH Rafael Devers’ leadoff home run in the bottom of the ninth inning capped the Red Sox come back from five runs down to beat the visiting Atlanta Braves 7-6 on Saturday night at Fenway Park.

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After Boston’s Aroldis Chapman (3-2) worked around two baserunners to strike out the side in the top half of the ninth, Devers — who finished 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI and two runs scored — clubbed a 2-1 curveball into the right-center field bullpen off Pierce Johnson (1-1) for his first career game-winning homer.

The third baseman turned designated hitter, Devers finished 3-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored as the Red Sox won the second of a three-game series.

Boston had scored twice and tallied three hits in both the seventh and eighth innings to whittle down from a 6-2 deficit. Jarren Duran finished with four RBIs, including two on a game-tying single to right with two outs in the eighth.

In the seventh, Ceddanne Rafaela’s leadoff double down the left-field line began a stretch of three Boston hits in four batters to cut its deficit to 6-4. Devers’ opposite-field single and Alex Bregman’s wall-ball double plated runs.

Consecutive one-out hits by Abraham Toro (double) and Carlos Narvaez (single) set up Duran’s game-tying knock an inning later.

Earliers, Atlanta’s Matt Olson and Marcell Ozuna hit back-to-back homers in the first and Drake Baldwin added a two-run shot in the third for a 5-0 advantage for Atlanta, which was held scoreless after the fourth against four relief pitchers.

The Braves wasted little time getting to Boston starter Lucas Giolito as Austin Riley drew a one-out walk and scored on Olson’s two-run homer out to the bullpen in center in the first inning. Ozuna made it back-to-back jacks and a 3-0 Atlanta lead in the next at-bat, depositing a line-drive solo shot to deep left and completely out of the ballpark.

Another one-out walk helped Atlanta extend its lead to 5-0 in the third. After Ozuna drew a free pass, Baldwin hit a towering two-run homer inside Pesky’s Pole in right that was upheld on review.

Braves starter Grant Holmes set aside the first seven Red Sox he faced before a one-out walk to Narvaez in the third. Duran’s two-run homer to straightaway center got Boston on the board two batters later.

The Atlanta starter limited the hosts’ damage to two third-inning runs, inducing an inning-ending fly ball after allowing a Devers double and walking Bregman.

In the fourth, the Braves got a run back on Riley’s two-out single that dropped into shallow left. Eli White hit a leadoff single and stole second to help set up the RBI opportunity and a 6-2 lead.

–Field Level Media