Rougned Odor provided the offensive spark the Rangers needed as they powered past the Braves, 8-2, on Monday at SunTrust Park.

Odor’s 28th home run capped a three-run fifth inning that chased Braves starter R.A. Dickey from the game. Odor finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs as the Rangers moved above .500 for the first time since Aug. 24. They are now within two games of an American League Wild Card berth.
“I was trying to focus a lot and focus on everything in the game, and it helped me,” Odor said.
The offensive attack allowed Andrew Cashner to settle into his 23rd start of the season. He picked up his ninth win by surrendering two runs over six innings. Cashner had his two-seam fastball working as he registered 14 called strikes on the night.
Cashner earned his first career win against the Braves, entering the game with a 9.35 ERA in two starts at Turner Field. He has won six of his past 10 starts.
“Some of the guys had big swings tonight and [Odor] put a dagger in there late,” Cashner said. “I think we are swinging the bats really well and guys are feeling good. We are playing really good baseball.”
The same couldn’t be said for Dickey as the knuckleballer struggled against his former team. He wasn’t effective and labored through 4 1/3 innings. Dickey got behind several batters and had to use his fastball to work out of trouble.
“I was behind the count quite a bit and having to elevate that knuckleball, and that’s tough when you have to do that,” Dickey said. “That’s a good team over there. I can’t make excuses. I’ve just got to keep trying to execute.”
The main source of Braves offense came from left fielder Matt Adams as he hit his 20th home run, a two-run shot into the right-field seats. The home run went 416 feet with an exit velocity of 107.8 mph, according to Statcast™.
Elvis Andrus started Rangers’ night in style as he crushed his 19th home run into the left-field bleachers. He caught a knuckleball that stayed high and over the plate. It would prove to be a sign of things to come, as the Rangers scored five runs in the first three innings.
“I just kept hoping when [Dickey] ended the fourth, I thought maybe he’d gotten a hold of it because I’ve seen that happen before, too, where it starts out rough and then he’ll find it and can stretch the game a little bit,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It just wasn’t happening from the get-go.”
After the Braves scored two runs on Adams’ homer, the Rangers roared back and scored three runs to push the game out of reach. Nomar Mazara started with a solo home run and three batters later, the Odor added the final blow to incoming reliever Matt Wisler by greeting him with a two-run homer to provide the game’s final runs.
“I believe the add-on inning to answer back was really key for us,” Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. “I thought our guys did a great job off of Dickey in staying patient and drawing some walks.”
“It makes me want to throw up not going more than six innings. Tonight was a night where I had to be pretty good. We weren’t scoring many runs on him. He had a good night, and I didn’t give us a really good chance to win the ballgame.” — Dickey
Cashner became the first Texas pitcher to collect a sacrifice fly in the second inning. It was the first in the organization’s history since moving to Texas. The last franchise pitcher to have a sacrifice fly was Camilo Pascual on Sept. 5, 1968, for the Washington Senators.
Julio Teheran takes the mound Tuesday night at 6:35 p.m. CT for the second of three games against the Rangers. He will be looking to build on a four-game stretch that has seen him post a 2.33 ERA and three quality starts.

Zach Neal was magnificent as the Nashville Sounds blanked the New Orleans Baby Cakes 3-0 Monday afternoon to put a bow on the 2017 campaign. It was the first series sweep of the season for the Sounds.

Neal kept the ball down all afternoon as he hurled seven shutout innings for his third consecutive quality start. The right-hander retired the first 11 batters he faced before yielding a two-out double to Christian Colon in the fourth inning. He induced 11 ground outs on the afternoon.

Neal found himself in a bit of trouble in the seventh inning as he surrendered a leadoff single to Steve Lombardozzi followed by a sacrifice bunt and a stolen base before walking Jake Elmore to put runners on the corners. Neal induced a pop up to escape the frame.

Baby Cakes starter, Victor Payano was outstanding on the mound as well. The southpaw fanned seven in his four innings of work while allowing just one base hit, a single to Joey Wendle.

The Sounds finally broke through in the sixth inning off William Cuevas as they loaded the bases with just one out. Wendle skied a fly ball to left field to plate Jaff Decker from third base.

Nashville added a pair of insurance runs in the ninth inning as Beau Taylor deposited a two-run home run into the swimming pool beyond the right field fence.

Corey Walter pitched a scoreless eighth inning while Felix Doubront closed the book on New Orleans in the ninth inning to wrap up the 2017 season.

The Sounds finised the season 68-71 and in second place in the American Southern Division. They spent 131 days out of 160 in second place.

The 2017 season was the Sounds’ 40th in franchise history and their third as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. 2018 season ticket memberships are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.

Andrew Mahaffey of CHS football

Fighting the rain, a slick field and the #2 team in the state, the Coffee County Red Raider football team traveled to Murfreesboro to take on Blackman on Friday night.  While much could be said for the devastating rainfall by the remnants of Harvey, Blackman running back Master Teague was devastating in his own way as he rushed for 217 yards to lead Blackman to the 49 to 14 win.

Teague, an Ohio State verbal commitment, carried the ball 17 times to amass the 217 yards as he scored 4 touchdowns. Colton Prater had Coffee County’s first touchdown of the night in the first quarter as he kept the ball on a keeper over the left side to score from 9 yards out.  Prater connected with Alontae Taylor for a 46 yard touchdown pass in the 3^rd quarter for Coffee County’s second score.  Prater finished the game with 9 rushes for 39 yards on the ground and completed 6 of 13 passes for 82 yards.  Taylor finished the night with 3 receptions for 64 yards.  Cameron West finished with 33 yards on 7 carries and Hayden Skipper added 4 carries for 29 yards.  Andrew Mahaffey grabbed 2 interceptions for Coffee County as he was named the Crazy Daisies Player of the Game.

The Raiders will take off next Friday as they will enjoy a bye week.  The Red Raiders return to action on Friday, September 15^th when they play host to Warren County.  That game will get underway at 7 PM.

You can download a copy of the broadcast by visiting: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/

In his first Major League start, rookie lefty Max Fried combined with four Braves relievers to end the Cubs’ winning streak at six games. The lefty scattered four hits, including a solo homer by Ian Happ, over five innings in the Braves’ 5-1 victory over the Cubs on Sunday at Wrigley Field.

With the loss and the Brewers’ win over the Nationals on Sunday, the Cubs’ lead in the National League Central is 3 1/2 games. Chicago had outscored its opponents, 49-19, in the six games before Sunday.
“With the short looks we had [at Fried], I didn’t really know what to expect,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “But you can see what everybody was talking about. He was real efficient and made pitches when he had to and allowed himself to stay out there and get that win.”
Fried, 23, the Braves’ No. 10 prospect according to MLBPipeline.com, missed most of 2014 and all of ’15 with Tommy John surgery. He had made four relief appearances before this start. The lefty not only kept the Cubs in check, but helped himself on defense, including a play in the fifth when he fielded Jason Heyward’s comebacker and was able to make an off-balance throw to second to get Happ.
ried fastball 419 feet (per Statcast™) to left in the second for his 21st home run, which tied the game at 1.
Rio Ruiz hit an RBI single in the fourth and a two-run single in the ninth for the Braves, who avoided being shutout in the seven-game season series with the win. Ruiz’s career-high three-RBI performance was aided by fellow rookie Dansby Swanson, who singled in the fourth and doubled in the ninth to leave him with a .400 batting average and a 1.063 OPS over his past 19 games.
“It’s definitely nice to be a part of,” Ruiz said. “We just have to continue to get going. This was a good series for a lot of the rookies.”
Mike Montgomery gave up three runs over five innings and took the loss, but the bright spot for the Cubs’ pitching came in the sixth, when Dillon Maples made his Major League debut. The right-hander, who has battled injuries and considered quitting one year ago, walked one and struck out Ruiz to end the inning.
Maples got the ball from the strikeout and planned on giving it to his mother.
“He did a really wonderful job and I mentioned that he got out some really good hitters and his response to me was, ‘It was just me and the catcher,’ which I loved,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “I thought that was outstanding. I hope he never loses that perspective or concept.”
Said Maples: “The build up was something I never experienced before but as far as being out there, it was the same. … Now it’s just about feeling like you belong out there.”
Freddie Freeman doubled to open the Braves’ fourth and moved up when Matt Kemp flied out to right. Nick Markakis then walked, and Swanson and Ruiz each followed with RBI singles to go ahead, 3-1.
Freeman says his previously fractured left wrist has been feeling weak, but he notched multihit performances in the final two games of the series and has six extra-base hits in his past 25 at-bats.
Javier Baez slid head-first into second base trying to steal in the Chicago second, colliding with second baseman Ozzie Albies. Baez appeared to be shaken up but stayed in the game defensively to start the Braves third. But he only lasted one batter and then was pulled. Baez, who has been starting at short since Addison Russell was injured Aug. 3, experienced blurred vision and was taken to a Chicago hospital to be examined. The initial examination was positive, and he was not expected to miss much time.
“He’s pretty important,” Maddon said of Baez. “Hopefully, it’ll be minor and he’ll be back [Monday] and we won’t have to [worry] over all of it. He’s very important to us right now, I cannot deny that.”
Montgomery took the loss, his first since July 6, snapping a four-game winning streak. He has a 1.88 ERA in his past four starts.
With his 21st home run, Happ ranks fifth all-time among Cubs rookies, passing Tyler Colvin, who hit 20 in 2010.
R.A. Dickey will take the mound when Atlanta returns to SunTrust Park to open a three-game Interleague series against the Rangers on Monday at 6:35 p.m. CT. Dickey threw a season-high 121 pitches as he limited the Phillies to one run over eight innings Wednesday.

by Jim Wyatt, Senior Writer/Editor – TitansOnline.com

The Titans trimmed their roster to 53 players on Saturday.

The players released included cornerback Manny Abad, tight end Jace Amaro, fullback Joe Bacci (waived injured), defensive lineman Angelo Blackson, nose tackle DeAngelo Brown, tight end Jerome Cunningham, long snapper Ryan DiSalvo (waived injured), quarterback Tyler Ferguson, cornerback Demontre Hurst, receiver Darius Jennings, safety Denzel Johnson, running back Akeem Judd (waived injured), receiver Jonathan Krause, receiver KeVonn Mabon, offensive lineman Tyler Marz, offensive lineman Josue Matias, receiver Tre McBride, tackle Steven Moore, running back Khalfani Muhammad, receiver Giovanni Pascascio, tackle Jonah Pirsig, running back Brandon Radcliff, defensive end Cameron Robbins, tackle Brad Seaton, tight end Tim Semisch, guard Jake Simonich, cornerback Darrius Sims, cornerback D’Joun Smith, center Mark Spelman, linebacker Justin Staples, defensive lineman Jimmy Staten (waived injured), receiver/returner Eric Weems and nose tackle Antwaun Woods. Also, quarterback Alex Tanney and receiver Tajae Sharpe have been placed on Injured Reserve.

On Friday night, the Titans acquired Chiefs defensive lineman David King via trade.

Changes, of course, could still come before the Titans face the Oakland Raiders on September 10.

But for now, here’s a look at where the team stands numbers-wise at each position, and a quick analysis….

Quarterbacks (2): Marcus Mariota, Matt Cassel.

Comment: Mariota completed 62.5 percent of his passes in the preseason, with a 110.0 passer rating. He moved around well, and looks ready for the start of the season. Cassel turned in a solid preseason after returning from thumb surgery. Tanney was injured in the preseason finale at Kansas City, and placed on IR.

Running backs (4): DeMarco Murray, Derrick Henry, David Fluellen, Jalston Fowler (FB).

Comment: Murray was slowed in the preseason with a hamstring injury, but is ready to roll. Henry benefitted from the extra work, and is in a position to contribute even more in his second season. Fluellen earned a roster spot with his play during the offseason, beating out Muhammad, among others.

Receivers (5): Corey Davis, Eric Decker, Harry Douglas, Rishard Matthews, Taywan Taylor.

Comment: Matthews, the team’s leading receiver a year ago, leads a group that is expected to be back at full strength after dealing with injuries in the preseason. Davis and Decker should make a big impact this fall, and Taylor showed off his skills with an impressive preseason as well. The Titans placed Sharpe on IR, and parted ways with Tre McBride here as well.

Tight ends (3): Delanie Walker, Phillip Supernaw, Jonnu Smith.

Comment: Walker, coming off his second straight Pro Bowl, has looked leaner and faster during the offseason. Supernaw can help the team in a number of ways, including as a blocker and on special teams, and occasionally as a pass catcher. Smith, a third round draft pick, has shown plenty of promise early.

Offensive line (8): C Ben Jones, G Josh Kline, G Quinton Spain, T Jack Conklin, T Taylor Lewan, T Dennis Kelly, C/G Tim Lelito, C/G Corey Levin.

Comment: The starting five returns following a year when the Titans finished third in the NFL in rushing and Mariota was sacked up 23 times in 15 starts. Kelly and Lelito provide a veteran presence as back-ups, and Levin earned a spot because of his versatility.

Defensive line (6): Jurrell Casey, Austin Johnson, DaQuan Jones, Karl Klug, Sylvester Williams, David King.

Comment: Casey, a two-time Pro Bowler, leads a group packed with versatility. Johnson and Jones have played inside and out. Klug battled his way back from an Achilles injury to earn a spot. Williams, formerly with the Broncos, adds beef in the middle. The Titans on Friday traded for King, formerly of the Chiefs.

Linebackers (11): Daren Bates, Jayon Brown, Josh Carraway, Kevin Dodd, Derrick Morgan, Brian Orakpo, Nate Palmer, Erik Walden, Aaron Wallace, Avery Williamson, Wesley Woodyard.

Comment: The Titans went heavy here, in large part because of special teams. The starting four – Orakpo, Williamson, Woodyard and Morgan – are back, but some newcomers will add pop. Brown flashed during the preseason with his speed and play-making ability, and there’s depth at OLB with Wallace, Dodd and Carraway.

Secondary (11): Adoree’ Jackson, Brice McCain, Kalan Reed, Logan Ryan, LeShaun Sims, Tye Smith, Kevin Byard, Johnathan Cyprien, Curtis Riley, Da’Norris Searcy, Brynden Trawick.

Comment: The Titans still have to sort out their rotation here, but they have numbers to help in the defense and on special teams, and plenty of new faces. Byard should be even more of a playmaker at safety in Year 2, and plenty of options are on the table at cornerback, where Jackson, Sims and others have worked early in preseason games.

Specialists (3): K Ryan Succop, P Brett Kern, LS Beau Brinkley.

Comment: All three specialist are back from 2016, when the Titans were solid here. Succop made 22-of-24 field goals last year, when Kern averaged 44.2 yards with a 38.6 net.