Georgia sports for Wednesday, August 1st

The Braves opened their 6-game homestand in grand style last night, blasting the Astros 12-4 in the 1st of 3 games from Turner Field.

There were 4 Atlanta home runs--2 from Kelly Johnson along with 5 RBI's. Brian McCann and Jeff Francouer also went deep. Chuck James earned the pitching win, his 9th of the season.

Earlier Tuesday, the Braves finalized three trades, which bolstered the lineup and bullpen. Slugging 1st baseman Mark Teixeira and reliever Ron Mahay come over from Texas. The Braves acquired closer Octavio Dotel from Kansas City, along with pitcher Royce Ring from San Diego. Of the players traded away yesterday, that included young catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia going to the Rangers. For the Braves tonight, Teixeira is expected to make his Atlanta debut at 1st base.

Go to GPB Sports Insider for more on the Braves' trades.

Georgia sports for Tuesday, July 31st

The Braves will start a 6-game homestand tonight with the 1st of 3 against the Houston Astros at Turner Field. As action begins, the Braves stand 4-and-a-half games behind 1st place New York in the NL-East division.

The Braves however finalized a pair of trades right before the 4pm trading deadline to improve their roster. In a mega-deal with the Texas Rangers, the Braves significantly boosted their lineup and bullpen. The Braves acquired slugging 1st baseman Mark Teixeira, along with lefthanded reliever Ron Mahay from the Texas Rangers. In return, Atlanta gave up some highly-touted prospects. Those names include catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia and shortstop Elvis Andrus. Saltalamacchia had been up with the big league club already this season and had performed well, batting .284 with 4 homers and 12 RBI's in 47 games. Three other minor leaguers are also headed to Texas in the deal--all pitchers: Matt Harrison, Neftali Feliz, and Beau Jones.

In another deal announced Tuesday afternoon, the Braves dealt pitcher Kyle Davies to the Kansas City Royals, in exchange for closer Octavio Dotel.


From the NFL, it's another day of training camp workouts for the Atlanta Falcons in Flowery Branch.

Georgia sports for Wednesday, June 27th

The Braves are hoping to make their recent 5-game losing streak a distant memory: they beat the Washington Nationals for a 2nd straight night, 6-2 the final on Tuesday. Rookie Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit a pair of solo home runs, and the slumping Andruw Jones got healthy at the plate with a 3-run homer. Buddy Carlyle got the pitching win with good work across 7 innings. The Braves go for the 3-game sweep tonight with John Smoltz on the hill.

The Falcons are getting ready for training camp next month, and one of their key contributors on defense is set to focus on football. Defensive tackle Grady Jackson's lawsuit against the team has been resolved. Jackson's attorney told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that his client is very happy with how it worked out. The Falcons only acknowledged the case has been resolved, passing on any further comment. Jackson's lawsuit was filed over defamation and invasion of privacy. Jackson claimed the Falcons improperly released medical records to the view of other teams. Jackson at the time was a free agent, and claimed other teams shied away from him. His allegation was that the Falcons signed him for below market value. According to the AJC, the resolution has Jackson with a fresh 4-year contract. He had signed a 3-year deal with the team last year.