Atlanta, GA
Braves look to even the series with AJ Smith-Shawver starting against Rays
Following a tough Friday that saw them begin it with a walk-off straight onto a plane Atlanta and end it with a loss in Tampa, the Atlanta Braves are now attempting to bounce back in the middle game of this three-game series with the Rays.
AJ Smith-Shawver will be getting the ball to start tonight’s game and it’s clear that the Braves are surely hoping that this’ll be the night where he puts together something resembling a complete start. He’s made a couple of starts so far this year and in both of them, he’s had plenty of traffic to deal with on the basepaths as he gave up six hits in his season debut and then seven in his most recent appearance, with three walks in each of those outings. As a result, he still has yet to make it through five innings so far.
With that being said, one thing that Smith-Shawver has going for him is that he has been inducing a lot of whiffs so far. Hopefully he’ll be able to turn those whiffs into more strikeouts, as he went from four in his season debut to six in his most recent outing. This may not be the most ideal situation to try to go for strikeouts, as the Rays are entering this game with only a 19.9 percent strikeout rate. With that being said, that’s certainly not going to stop AJSS from trying and if he can continue to ramp up his strikeout numbers then this could be the moment where he finally gets a quality start under his belt.
Meanwhile, Drew Rasmussen is getting the ball for the Rays and he’s gotten off to a very solid start to the season for the Rays so far. He’s thrown 10 innings over two starts and gone five innings in each of those starts with four strikeouts and just one walk so far. It took everything the Rangers had just to scratch a run past him during his last outing and Texas had to win it in walk-off fashion once Rasmussen was gone from the game.
Rasmussen has a five-pitch arsenal but he’ll be leaning on his cutter while occasionally going to a four-seamer and sinker while rarely breaking out the sweeper and curveball. He’s done a good job of avoiding getting barreled up so far and as I mentioned in the previous article, he’s largely avoided giving out free passes and that’s part of the reason why he’s gotten off to such a solid start for the Rays so far. He’s also avoided giving up a homer as well. Rasmussen appears likely to deliver a tough challenge to the Braves tonight but what else is new as far as this season goes for Atlanta?
Sometimes I like to look at the FanGraphs live scoreboard before the games start since they usually give an analytical prediction on how the game goes. Usually, the Braves have had the higher odds of victory — today is not one of those days, as FanGraphs is giving the Rays a 57 percent shot to win this one. If we’re being completely honest, the pitching matchup certainly tilts in favor of the Rays and the Braves are still trying to figure out a way to get into a good run of consistency here in 2025.
With that being said, this is still baseball — you still have to go out there on the diamond and make it happen. Hopefully the Braves will be able to figure it out today and play a complete game, themselves. If that happens, this team still has the talent to play with anybody on any given day. Hopefully today’s one of those days!
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Saturday, April 12, 4:10 p.m. EDT
Location: George M. Steinbrenner Field, Tampa, FL
TV: FanDuel Sports South/Southeast
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan
Atlanta, GA
Bill Belichick takes in girlfriend Jordon Hudson’s Atlanta cheerleading competition
She’s cheer captain, and he’s in the bleachers.
Bill Belichick was in Atlanta over the weekend to cheer on his 24-year-old girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, during a cheerleading competition, TMZ reported.
Hudson was competing for Code Black, which she cheered for in a Cheer Extreme All-Stars event in Raleigh, North Carolina, in November.
Belichick sported a button-down shirt, jeans and a Navy submarine cap, while Hudson donned the Code Black uniform, as did the rest of her teammates.
Photos published by the outlet showed the two all smiles as they stood next to one another.
Hudson had also posted a video of part of the routine Code Black performed during the first day of the competition.
Belichick has not been shy about supporting his younger paramour since their relationship became public over the summer of 2024.
The University of North Carolina football coach, and six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach, attended the cheer competition in November and was there to support Hudson at the Miss Maine USA pageant earlier this year.
Hudson has been there to support Belichick throughout his first season at the helm at UNC, which drew plenty of headlines off the field.

The relationship between the 73-year-old and Hudson has generated plenty of interest and drama, aside from Belichick going 4-8 in his first season at UNC and repeated questions about whether he would leave the football program. Belichick ended up making major staff changes after the season.
Hudson created waves earlier this year when she stepped in during a “CBS Sunday Morning” interview when Belichick was asked how the pair met, creating weeks of headlines.
More recently, she has been in a back-and-forth with investigative sports journalist Pablo Torre – at one point claiming she would sue him – and last month The Post reported that Jen Belichick, the daughter-in-law of Bill – went on a nearly hour-long rant in the coach’s office about Hudson and how she was “f–king twisting” Belichick’s brain.
Atlanta, GA
Security tightened for Hanukkah celebrations across metro Atlanta after Sydney mass shooting
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Dozens of Hanukkah celebrations across metro Atlanta will go on as scheduled this week.
Security is now top priority following the brutal shooting that killed 15 people at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.
“Of course the minute the news came out from Australia we were in touch with our law enforcement partners,” said Renee Kutner, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. “We went back through the plans. We amped them up where we needed to. People will see extra patrols around, not because there’s threats but because we just want to make sure everybody knows that they’re safe.”
The Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta says it spends millions of dollars every year securing its community against antisemitic attacks.
“We are so blessed to have really, really great relationships with law enforcement at every level across metro Atlanta and throughout Georgia,” Kutner said. “And we’ve been in contact with all of them. They are so supportive and they will be at our events – they will amp up the security.”
According to Kutner, the heightened security is out of an abundance of caution.
“We have no credible threats, no reason to believe that lone actors somewhere else will affect anything here, and we want to give our community the chance to celebrate,” Kutner said.
RELATED COVERAGE:
Australia to tighten gun laws after Bondi Beach Hanukkah massacre leaves 15 dead
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Copyright 2025 WANF. All rights reserved.
Atlanta, GA
Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers Announce Starting Lineups For Tonight’s Game
The Hawks would love to forget Friday’s embarrassing loss to the Detroit Pistons.
After an entertaining first quarter, Atlanta was dominated over the final three quarters and ended up losing by 27 points to the top team in the Eastern Conference. They are hoping for a quick bounce back today at home vs Philadelphia and will could use a win to get back on track.
The game is getting closer to tipoff and both teams have announced their starting lineups:
Hawks
G-Nickeil Alexander-Walker
G- Dyson Daniels
F- Zaccharie Risacher
F- Jalen Johnson
C- Onyeka Okongwu
76ers
G- Quentin Grimes
G- VJ Edgecombe
F- Paul George
F- Dominick Barlow
C- Joel Embiid
Deeper look at Atlanta
When previewing the game this morning, our own Rohan Raman took a deeper look at the Hawks’ advanced numbers today:
“Atlanta’s offense has been surprisingly solid without Trae Young, but the Pistons game was a poor showing. The Hawks are 12th in points, 10th in FG%, 10th in 3P%, 17th in FT%, 25th in rebounds (24th in OREB, 22nd in DREB), 1st in assists, and 18th in turnovers per game. They’re 16th in offensive rating this year.
On a per-game basis, the Hawks’ defense rank 21st in points allowed, 18th in FG% allowed, 9th in 3P% allowed, 23rd in rebounds allowed, 4th in steals, and 12th in blocks. They’re 14th in defensive rating on the year, which puts them in a slightly above-average tier despite their recent run of poor performance on end.
Philadelphia is still figuring out how their offense operates when everyone is healthy, but Tyrese Maxey is always dangerous and they quietly have a reasonably deep roster. They’re 16th in points, 24th in FG%, 17th in 3P%, 6th in FT%, 9th in rebounds (10th in OREB, 9th in DREB), 20th in assists, and 11th in turnovers per game. They’re 15th in offensive rating this season.
After a difficult night against a tough Detroit defense, the matchup gets slightly easier against the 76ers. Even so, they’ve been playing good defense as of late – albeit against poor competition. They are 12th in points allowed, 8th in FG% allowed, 8th in 3P% allowed, 21st in rebounds allowed, 19th in steals, and 2nd in blocks. They’re 9th in defensive rating, so this would be the second straight game for the Hawks against a top-ten defense by defensive rating.”
Because they are at home and will have the best player on the floor, I like the Hawks to win this game. Quentin Grimes is someone who has given the Hawks trouble before, and rookie VJ Edgecombe has had a great start to his career. Still, I like Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu to lead the Hawks to a win today at home.
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