Category: Sports

Giancarlo Stanton added to his Major League-leading home run total by teeing off on a couple of R.A. Dickey knuckleballs, but Adam Conley’s successful run against Atlanta was halted by a Nick Markakis three-run shot that gave the Braves a 5-3 win over the Marlins on Friday night at SunTrust Park.

One night after recording his 2,000th career hit, Markakis delivered the decisive blow in the sixth against Conley, who entered the inning having not allowed an earned run over his past 19 innings versus Atlanta. Markakis’ sixth homer of the season erased the lead the Marlins had gained courtesy of Stanton’s 26th career multi-homer game and the eighth he has recorded this year. He leads the Majors with 35 home runs.

Stanton’s homers accounted for two of the three hits surrendered over six innings by Dickey, who otherwise quieted a Marlins club that had won six of its previous eight games. The veteran knuckleballer pitched with an early advantage courtesy of multiple defensive miscues that helped the Braves tally a run in the first.

The Nashville Sounds slugged their way to an 8-5 victory over the Reno Aces Friday night. The Sounds clobbered four home runs in the contest while three players recorded multi-hit games.

The Sounds gave Aces starter Taylor Clarke a rude welcome to the Triple-A level. Nashville tagged the young right-hander for eight runs on nine hits including all four of Nashville’s home runs.

Nashville spotted Corey Walter a 1-0 lead after the top half of the first inning. Franklin Barreto launched an opposite field home run to put the Sounds on top. For Barreto it was his 14th home run of the season between Nashville and Oakland, which set a new single-season high for the A’s top prospect.

The Sounds continued to play home run derby in the third inning. Barreto legged out an infield single to spark the two-out rally. Matt Olson drilled a no-doubter over the right field fence, which was followed up by Renato Nuñez with his Minor League-leading 28th home run of the season.

Reno responded in the home half of the third inning with a two out rally of its own. Walter retired the first eight batters he faced in the game before John Ryan Murphy stepped to the plate and ignited the Aces offense. Three consecutive singles from Murphy, Socrates Brito, and Christian Walker put the Aces on the scoreboard. Walker’s RBI single was his 100th run driven in on the season, which leads all of Minor League baseball. Walter was able to limit the damage following a walk to load the bases. The right-hander induced a slow ground ball to second base to avoid surrendering a crooked number.

The Aces cut the lead in half in the fourth inning. Kevin Medrano led off with a double and came around to score on an Evan Marzilli sacrifice fly. Following the third hit of the inning the Sounds turned to right-hander Tucker Healy who promptly retired the first two hitters he faced to extinguish the threat.

Three straight doubles and a home run extended the Sounds lead to 8-2 in the top of the fifth inning. Barreto got the inning started with a two-bagger. Then Olson and Nuñez each logged RBI doubles followed by a Chris Carter bomb, his first home run and first runs driven in in a Sounds uniform.

Chris Bassitt surrendered a pair of runs in his two innings of relief for the Sounds but Kyle Finnegan and Lou Trivino kept the Aces at bay with a pair of scoreless innings. The two right-handers combined the strike out five of the seven Aces they faced and allowed just one base runner, which came on an error.

Reno wrapped up the scoring in the bottom of the ninth inning with an RBI double from Zach Borenstein off Patrick Schuster.

Barreto, Olson, and Nuñez each posted multi-hit games for the Sounds led by Barreto’s trio of hits.

Game three of the four-game series is scheduled for Saturday night at Greater Nevada Field. Right-hander Ben Bracewell (1-2, 5.28) starts for Nashville against right-hander Matt Koch (1-1, 8.14) for Reno. First pitch is scheduled for 9:05 p.m. CST.

CHS golfer Austin Farris lines up a putt on Willowbrook’s 9th green. [Photo by Lucky Knott]

Junior Samuel Prater led the Raider team as he shot a one under par score of 35.  Senior Reid Lawrence carded a 37 while juniors Josh Perry and Austin Farris each shot 38 to round out the Raider scoring.  Junior Matthew Hale was one shot back with a 3 over 39.  Franklin County’s Jonathan Liggett had the lowest round overall as he carded a 34.

The Raiders return to the links on Monday when they travel to Cookeville to compete in the Early Bird Tournament.  That match is set to tee off at 8 AM and will be held at the Golden Eagle Golf Club.  Coach Mike Ray will be a guest on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show to talk about his team.  The Coffee Coaches Show airs at 10 AM each Saturday and is broadcast from the showroom of Al White Ford/Lincoln.

Nashville Predators captain Mike Fisher [Photo courtesy of nhl.com]

“I can still picture it vividly.

That afternoon on TV, I’d seen a drone shot of Broadway and the area surrounding Bridgestone Arena that showed all the people gathered for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. I gasped. How was there that many people there? And all to support us? It was almost incomprehensible.

I kept picturing that scene even as we gathered in the locker room for the game that night against the Penguins. I wasn’t the only one who’d seen the shots of all the fans; it was all we could talk about in the room. Before the playoffs even began, we, as a team, set goals we wanted to accomplish, even outside of winning the Cup. Right under that obvious one at the top of the list was to unite and inspire the city of Nashville. We put the list up in our room and looked at it each day.

But the scene outside blew us away. We couldn’t take credit for it or even claim it was what we expected. All of us were looking at each other and going, “holy cow, this is something we’ll never forget.”

The way the city was behind us was unbelievable, and that’s what makes the memory such a high – but also bittersweet. Can you imagine if we had a parade down Broadway?

It’s moments like that which I know I’ll miss. This job I’ve been able to have for a majority of my life is so much fun. To help create that entertainment and to see the joy we can bring to people is such a unique and exciting opportunity. I’ll miss my teammates, my coaches and the game itself.

This is the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make, but I know I’ve made the right one. I’ve decided to retire from the NHL.

I kept praying for peace about the next step in my life. A peace that said this is God’s will for your future. A peace that said whether or not this was the right time to walk away.

I don’t believe it came in a single instance or some aha moment, but as time passed, I gradually became certain that it was right for me to retire. I believe God gave me the ability to play hockey, and I was helped by dozens of individuals along the way, so it’s not just up to me on when it’s time to say goodbye.

Knowing we were so close to winning it all in June only makes it more difficult to leave it behind, but I do so with hope. Endings are always tough, but I believe when something ends, there are new beginnings, new opportunities and new things to be excited for, too.

I believe that this team, that this city, is going to win a championship, and I’m going to be the biggest fan. No one will be happier than I will be to see it happen, because, these fans, they deserve it.

Closing a chapter like this – one that’s lasted 17 years – makes me think about the support I’ve received my whole life from my family, friends, even people I’ve never met that have prayed for me throughout my career. It’s impossible to thank every one of them, but I’ll try. I hope this letter shows some kind of gratitude to them, to the Ottawa Senators, to David Poile, who brought me to Nashville and put his faith in me, to the entire Nashville Predators organization, teammates, owners, coaches and trainers; the way they’ve treated me has always been with the utmost kindness.

I approached this season with the mindset that it could be my last, and now that it’s past, I’m looking forward to a future that includes a lot more time with my family. Things change when you have kids and you have a family. They’ve supported me without question, and now it’s my turn to return the favor.

A thank you here isn’t enough to say goodbye with, but all those memories, like the moments in the locker room before Game 6, cherishing those is what I hope will keep me, this team and the city intertwined forever.”

Nashville Predators captain Mike Fisher has announced his retirement after 17 NHL seasons.

Fisher, 37, told The Tennessean on Thursday that he was hanging up his skates after tallying 276 goals and 309 assists in 1,088 career NHL games with the Predators and Ottawa Senators.

Mike Fisher had 276 goals and 209 assists over 17 seasons with the Predators and Senators. “I’m looking forward to a future that includes a lot more time with my family,” he said. “Things change when you have kids and you have a family.”
Fisher had 18 goals and 24 assists last season as he helped lead the Predators to the Western Conference title and the Stanley Cup Final, where they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games.

Fisher played seven seasons with the Predators, scoring 237 points on 109 goals and 128 assists. In 11 seasons with the Senators, who selected Fisher with the 44th pick in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, Fisher tallied 167 goals and 181 assists.

Fisher, who was named the Predators’ captain prior to last season, had 23 goals and 28 assists in 13 career playoff games.

It has been two months since the Dodgers lost a series and one month since they lost to any team not based out of Atlanta. They extended both of these streaks on Thursday night, when Alex Wood delivered six solid innings and Chris Taylor homered in a 7-4 win over the Braves at SunTrust Park.

“It was a good win, as any time you can win the rubber match in a series, it is big,” Taylor said. “They have a good team and we played some good games against them.”
The Dodgers took two of three during this trip to Atlanta and have now gone 40-7 since suffering their last series loss in early June against the Nationals. They have won 21 of 24 dating back to July 4 and the Braves accounted for each of the three losses within this span. These torrid streaks have enabled the Dodgers to produce the National League’s best record (76-32) through 108 games since the 1944 Cardinals.
“Every win is big and those guys play the game the right way,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “[Braves manager] Brian [Snitker] has those guys playing baseball the way we play. … It doesn’t matter the opponent, as they are all tough. I commend those guys for how they go about their business.”
Wood recorded his 13th win and avenged his only loss of the season as he limited his original organization to one run over six somewhat stressful innings. Tyler Flowers’ first-inning RBI single accounted for the only support given to Braves rookie Sean Newcomb, who battled all-too-familiar control issues as he needed 110 pitches (62 strikes) to complete 4 2/3 innings. The left-hander was fortunate to allow just three runs while issuing six unintentional walks.
“I’ve just got to do a better job of pounding the zone and stop trying to miss so many bats,” Newcomb said. “I think I’m trying to be too fine, trying to punch people out and make things happen myself, instead of letting them hit it by getting it in the zone a little more.”
Ozzie Albies recorded his first career hit in the ninth inning when he ripped a three-run homer off Tony Cingrani, who was making his first appearance since being acquired by the Dodgers on Monday. Albies made his Major League debut Tuesday. MLBPipeline.com ranks him as the game’s 19th-best prospect.
After issuing a bases-loaded walk to Logan Forsythe in the third inning, Newcomb issued Yasiel Puig a four-pitch walk to begin the fourth. Two batters later, Taylor, who had three hits and three runs scored, jumped on an elevated fastball and drove it over the center-field fence for his 13th homer of the season. The two-run shot traveled a projected 402 feet with a 102.6-mph exit velocity, per Statcast™. Newcomb admitted he was not aggressive enough with the pitch because he was simply trying to throw a strike.
“It was a hitter’s count with a guy in scoring position,” Taylor said. “I wanted to be aggressive and be ready for the fastball. He has good life on his fastball, and I wanted to get in front as he left the pitch over the middle.”
Mistake aids escape: The Braves attempted to turn the tide when they used two walks and Ender Inciarte’s single to load the bases with no outs in the fifth. But Lane Adams was picked off second base and Wood escaped unscathed by getting Brandon Phillips to ground into a double play. The Braves challenged the ruling on Adams, but after a replay review, it was determined that the call would stand.
“I actually thought about the pitch before that to be aware and I just let my guard down,” Adams said. “It was bad timing. It was a big mistake and they took advantage of it.”
Nick Markakis secured his 2,000th career hit with a fourth-inning single. The Braves’ right fielder stands as one of 10 active players to reach this milestone. R.A. Dickey will take the mound at SunTrust Park on Friday, when the Braves begin a three-game series against the Marlins at 6:35 p.m. CT. Dickey has allowed one or no runs in six of his past eight starts and he’s lasted seven innings in two of his past three outings.

The Nashville Sounds started their eight-game road trip with a 4-3 loss to the Reno Aces at Greater Nevada Field Thursday night.
After jumping out to an early 3-0 lead, the Sounds surrendered four unanswered runs to drop their fourth consecutive game.
Starters Frankie Montas and Jake Buchanan matched zeroes through the first two innings before the Sounds broke through against Buchanan in the third.
Melvin Mercedes started the rally with a one-out double, and then moved to third on a wild pitch. Jaff Decker’s RBI groundout gave the Sounds a 1-0 lead. They weren’t done as four consecutive two-out hits plated another two runs.
Franklin Barreto singled, Matt Olson singled, Renato Nunez drove in a run with an RBI single, and Joey Wendle knocked in a run with another base hit to give the Sounds a 3-0 lead.
Montas went back to work and retired the side in order in the third. The right-hander set down the first 11 Reno batters he faced before finding trouble in the fourth.
With two outs in the inning, Christian Walker belted an opposite field homer, his 26th blast of the season to cut the Nashville lead to 3-1. Zach Borenstein followed with a double to right field, and Willians Astudillo launched a two-run blast to even the game at 3-3.
Montas gave way for newcomer Logan Bawcom who was signed by the Athletics to a minor league contract earlier in the day. Bawcom climbed the bump for the fifth and was greeted with a double off the bat of Kristopher Negron. Evan Marzilli followed with a deep fly ball to left-center field that allowed Negron to tag up all the way from second and give the Aces a 4-3 lead.
The Sounds didn’t muster much offense the rest of the way. The only hit for Nashville over the final four innings was a single off the bat of Barreto in the seventh.
Bawcom tossed a scoreless sixth, and Raul Alcantara and Felix Doubront shut down Reno’s high-powered offense the rest of the way.
Barreto and Nunez had two hits apiece in the series-opening loss.
Game two of the four-game series is scheduled for Friday night at Greater Nevada Field. Right-hander Corey Walter (2-5, 5.82) starts for Nashville against right-hander Taylor Clarke (0-0, 0.00) for Reno. First pitch is scheduled for 9:05 p.m. CST.

The Dodgers have the best record in the majors and are in the midst of one of the greatest two-month runs in major league history, but the Braves must look at that and go, pfft. Because the Braves, of all teams, have made them look like mere mortals during that otherwise torrid stretch.

Tyler Flowers hit a two-run, two-out pinch-hit homer in the eighth inning Wednesday to lift the Braves to a 5-3 win against the Dodgers at SunTrust Park, their third win in two weeks against a Dodgers team that has lost to no other team since July 4.

You read that right: The Dodgers have lost only three times in 23 games since July 4, and all three were against the Braves, who also got a two-run homer from Danny Santana on Wednesday on their way to evening the three-game series at one apiece and the season series at three games apiece.

The Dodgers had an 11-game winning streak before the Braves won consecutive games July 20-21 to start a four-game series at Dodger Stadium, and they had a nine-game winning streak between those consecutive defeats and Wednesday’s loss before a crowd of 28,107 SunTrust Park.

Their win in Tuesday’s series opener made it the fastest the Dodgers reached 75 wins in franchise history, and they entered Wednesday on a jaw-dropping 40-6 run that was the best 46-game stretch in franchise history and best in the majors since the 1941 Yankees also had a 40-6 run. To which the Braves can shrug their shoulders and say, meh.

The Braves have won only four of their past 16 games, but three of those wins came against the Dodgers. Go Figure.

The Braves, who took an early 2-1 lead on Santana’s two-run homer in the second inning, had a chance to reclaim the lead in the seventh inning when former Braves lefty Luis Avilan walked Freddie Freeman and Kurt Suzuki consecutively with two out and the score tied, 3-3. Nick Markakis followed with a single that glanced off Avilan’s leg and nearly got through to center field, but was stopped by second baseman Logan Forsythe.

The ball was stopped but Freeman was not – third-base coach Ron Washington sent Freeman all the way from second base and he was thrown out easily at the plate for the third out in the inning.

Braves starter Julio Teheran was charged with four hits, three runs and no walks in five innings and exited early with cramping in his right thigh after throwing just 64 pitches. He tweaked the leg on a fourth-inning at-bat, but stayed in the game after being checked by a trainer, then seemed to have no issue fielding Yasmani Grandal’s bunt and throwing to first base for the out when the Dodgers tested Teheran to start the fifth inning.

Cody Bellinger’s second-inning homer was the rookie sensation’s 30th of the season and the 27th allowed by Teheran to match the career high he set in 2015 in 33 starts. He’s given up that many in 22 starts this season.

It was also the seventh homer allowed by Teheran in a span of 13 innings over three starts, including three homers in 6 1/3 innings of a 6-2 loss to the Dodgers on July 22. He gave up three more homers and eight earned runs in just 4 2/3 innings of a 10-3 loss at Philadelphia on Friday.

So when he gave up the homer to Bellinger, the fourth batter he faced Wednesday, there was reason for concern, especially given Teheran’s season-long struggles at SunTrust Park. Before Wednesday he was 1-7 with a 7.05 ERA in 10 home starts compared to 6-2 with a 3.57 ERA in 11 road starts.

But after the Bellinger homer, Teheran retired six of the next seven batters before hitting Chris Taylor with an 0-2 pitch to start the fourth inning.

The Braves, meanwhile, took a 2-1 lead when Santana answered Bellinger’s homer with a two-run shot on the next pitch after Markakis’s one-out walk in the second inning. They were the first two earned runs allowed by Dodgers starter Brock Stewart, who made his second start after six scoreless relief appearances.

Stewart gave up a walk and a single to the next two batters after the Santana homer, but Ender Inciarte struck out with two in scoring position to end the inning after Teheran’s sacrifice bunt.

The Dodgers tied the score in the fourth after Teheran hit Taylor to start the inning. He stolen second base, advanced to third on a Bellinger fly-out to right and scored on Joc Pederson’s ground-out to first baseman Freeman, who made a nice diving stop to catch the ball near the base but had no chance to make a play at home with the speedy Taylor going on contact.

The lead went back to the Dodgers in the fifth inning after Yasiel Puig doubled and scored on Chase Utley’s two-out single, but the Braves answered with a tying run again in the bottom of the fifth after Inciarte hit a leadoff single, advanced on a ground-out and scored on Freeman’s one-out single.

Teheran snapped a string of three losses in his past three starts but still has only one win in six decisions over his past eight starts. He’s 1-5 with a 5.52 ERA and 11 homers allowed in 45 2/3 innings over that span.