Atlanta Falcons
Some terrific news broke early this morning out of Falcons camp. Devonta Freeman and the team finally came to terms on a contract extension that will keep the star running back in Atlanta through the 2020 season.
The contract is a five-year extension worth $41.25 million, making Freeman the highest paid running back in the NFL today.
For more on the extension, click here.
Atlanta Braves
The Braves lost another game to the MLB worst Phillies last night, 5-2. Julio Teheran made another horrific start, but we got to see another prospect make his debut in an ugly loss. With Teheran looking unimpressive again at home, the Braves are worried about the right handers confidence. He went five innings, giving up five runs on seven hits and received another loss.
The Braves biggest loss, however, wasn’t the final score. It happened when the Braves were taking the field to begin the game and Johan Camargo got his cleat stuck in the turf making his way to shortstop and tumbled to the infield grass. The trainers came out and talked to him for a few minutes and afterwards brought him off the field and into the locker room. It was said after the game that he would miss at least 2 weeks after hyper-extending his right knee. After he exited, the Braves substituted Jace Peterson into shortstop and removed Dansby Swanson from the game going on in Gwinnett during the 3rd inning.
So after the pregame injury, the Braves got off to a hot start with a Freddie Freeman solo homer in the bottom of the 1st. The Phillies scored all of their runs in the 4th and 5th innings on a few extra base-hits. Four of the five RBI’s were hit with two strikes in the at-bat. The Braves bats didn’t really get going after the Freeman home run except for three hits to lead off the 7th inning to score their 2nd and final run. It was another game where the Braves failed to get runners past third base. The Phillies lineup hit very well, specifically Odubel Herrera who had three hits with one of them being a home run that he literally had to dig it out of the dirt to even get his bat on and nearly hit it over the chop-house for a two-run homer. Meanwhile, the Braves had a hit from every batter except Nick Markakis, but couldn’t string any of them together to produce any runs.
Zach Eflin got his first win of the season in his fifth start, and Julio Teheran fell to 7-10 with his 8th loss at home. Hector Neris racked up his 12th save of the season, including his 3rd against the Bravos. The Phillies wish they could play against the Braves every day. They are 10-2 against us now and still have the worst record in baseball. The Braves on the other hand wish they could play against good teams every day because they have struggled against the bad teams all season long.
Braves fans got to see Max Fried make his debut last night as he pitched a scoreless 8th and 9th, including some help from a good defensive play by Freddie Freeman throwing Odubel Herrera out at home plate. Overall Fried still made some good pitches and had a very good curveball working for him.
The two teams face off tonight in the final game of a two game set. The game starts at 7:35 (pending an incident like last night’s game) and will feature Jerad Eickhoff vs Sean Newcomb. The Braves look to finish the series at one a piece with a win tonight and end a five game losing streak against the Phillies.