Josh Peterson

Had the Braves’ rotation not been fractured over the past few weeks, Sean Newcomb may have already been moved back to the bullpen.

But with limited options, the Braves are left hoping Newcomb extends the progress he showed in the Braves’ 2-1 loss to the Blue Jays on Wednesday night at Truist Park. The lefty still hasn’t completed five innings through any of his first three starts, but he’s steadily moved closer toward reaching that modest benchmark.

“I obviously want to go out and go more than five [innings] and have a better start, but there’s definitely been progress,” Newcomb said. “The offspeed is getting better, and these have been my first three starts in over a year and a half. It’s been a little bit of an adjustment. But I think I’m starting to click again using the whole repertoire.”

Once a top pitching prospect, Newcomb debuted in 2017, made an early All-Star bid in ‘18, then was optioned to Triple-A after just three starts in ‘19. He’s 27 years old now. There may not be many more chances for him to prove himself as a starter.

And quite frankly, he may not even have this current chance had the Braves not seen Mike Soroka, Mike Foltynewicz, Cole Hamels and Félix Hernández removed from their rotation plans at various points since the start of July.

So yes, there was reason for the Braves and Newcomb to feel some satisfaction after this latest outing, in which he was charged with two earned runs and five hits over 4 2/3 innings.

“That was encouraging tonight from Newk,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It was a lot better than his first two [starts]. So hopefully he figures some stuff out.”

Continue reading this story here.

Viktor Arvidsson scored the lone goal for the Predators on Wednesday afternoon, and the Arizona Coyotes earned a 4-1 win in Game 3 to take a 2-1 series lead in their Stanley Cup Qualifier with Nashville. 

The result means Friday’s Game 4 is a must-win for the Preds in the best-of-five scenario.

In the postseason, all that matters is the result. Predators Head Coach John Hynes has preached throughout the series that the best-of-five set is just that – an up-and-down, back-and-forth battle. That’s what makes Wednesday’s score tough to accept. 

The Predators did just about everything but find the back of the net in the opening 20 minutes, as Arizona netminder Darcy Kuemper stopped all 19 Nashville shots he faced. Instead, the Coyotes scored on their first shot of the game – a redirection from Christian Dvorak – and took a 1-0 lead into the intermission.

“It’s frustrating right now,” Predators Captain Roman Josi said of the result. “Especially in the first [period], I thought we played really well. We created a lot of chances, had a lot of shots, a lot of zone time; obviously, we couldn’t get a goal, but I think it was a really good first period for us… But looking back, in the first, I wish we got some goals.”

Nashville remained on the attack despite the setback. Finally, in the second period, Ryan Johansen stole the puck from two Coyotes in the neutral zone and started an odd-man rush. Filip Forsberg then slipped a pass over to Arvidsson, who tallied his second goal on a slap shot in as many days to even the score at 1-1.

Continue reading this story here.

The Red Raider and Lady Raider golf teams both dropped matches to Cookeville and Upperman Tuesday. But individual scores did improve for many of the Coffee County golfers from their opening match last week.

The Raider boys shot a 390 – led by Logan Hale, who carded an 86. Blake Perry was close behind with a 92, Zack Tidwell shot 102 and David O’Connor finished with a 110.

Cookeville won the boys match with an impressive 301.

Meanwhile, the Lady Raider golfers finished just 9 strokes behind Upperman for third place, shooting a 216. Cookeville won the match with a 157.

Cadie Prater led the way for Coffee County with a 106, followed by Maggy Crouch with a 110.

Coffee County will stay on the road, traveling to take on Franklin County next Tuesday, Aug. 11. CHS will host for the first time on Thursday, Aug. 13, when Shelbyville travels to WillowBrook

In a game you heard on Thunder Radio, Max Fried looked like a frontline starter and Austin Riley drilled one of the three homers the Braves tallied while turning the page with a 10-1 win over the Blue Jays on Tuesday night at Truist Park.

Distancing themselves from the blow suffered when ace Mike Soroka sustained a season-ending injury on Monday night, the Braves saw Fried allow four hits and one run over six strong innings. The southpaw received an early lead when Matt Adams and Tyler Flowers hit solo homers against Matt Shoemaker in the second inning.

Fried has posted a 2.04 ERA through three starts for the Braves, who have won six of their past seven games and eight of the first 12 played this year.

“We needed a strong start,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “I’m sure he had some emotions when his buddy went down last night. I’m sure he felt like he needed to step up, and he damn sure did.”

Continue reading about the Braves’ win here.

In a game you heard on Thunder Radio, The Nashville Predators opened up a 4-0 lead on the Arizona Coyotes and claimed a 4-2 victory in Game 2 to even their best-of-five series at 1-1. The Preds will have fewer than 24 hours to relish their Tuesday afternoon victory, as they’ll be right back on the ice for Game 3 on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. CT (Watch: FOX Sports Tennessee, NHL Network; Listen: 102.5 The Game). 

After surrendering three goals in the opening period in Game 1, the Predators stressed a better start in Game 2, and they got it thanks to impressive goaltending from Juuse Saros and a pair of tallies in the first 20 minutes.

That momentum carried the Preds through the afternoon, and even though they surrendered two goals late in the contest, the victory was the most important thing to come out of Tuesday’s effort.

“It was nice to get out there, get the lead today and build our team game from there,” Preds center Ryan Johansen said. “Nick [Bonino] gave our team a boost with his first goal tonight, and it seemed like we really found our game. We played a solid, solid game.” 

“We talked a lot to our team about mental toughness, focus and really taking the lessons out of the last game,” Preds Head Coach John Hynes said. “The focus level for us was good, and the things that we talked about, the players really executed. Our competitive level and commitment level in certain areas was better than it was in Game 1, so we need to make sure we continue that going into Game 3.”

Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Qualifier series between the Predators and Coyotes comes Wednesday afternoon, at 1:30 p.m. CT from Edmonton

Continue reading about the game 2 victory here.