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
Man shot at Atlanta airport, police say
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — A man is injured after a shooting inside Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Sunday, according to Atlanta Police.
The man is alert, conscious, breathing and was transported to the hospital for treatment, according to police.
No other injuries were reported.
Airport operations were not affected, according to police.
This is a developing story. Check back with Atlanta News First for updates.
Copyright 2025 WANF. All rights reserved.
Atlanta, GA
Davante Adams Will Not Play Week 17 Versus Atlanta
Davante Adams will now miss a second straight game on December 29th as Sean McVay announced he did not expect Adams to return for the Week 17 Monday Night Football game. Adams is currently battling a hamstring injury. While it is not season ending, it is enough to keep the wide receiver out for the most crucial stretch for fantasy football owners.
Roll Out The Beautiful Touchdown Stat
If anyone wonders what Adams provides that is so top notch. Check this statline out.
NFL Receiving TD Leaders – 2025
Davante Adams (LAR) 14 (Thru WK 15)
— NFL Analytics & Stats (@gofbanalytics) December 20, 2025
Amon-Ra St. Brown (DET) 11
Trey McBride (ARI) 10
Dallas Goedert (PHI) 9
Jaxon Smith-Njigba (SEA) 9
Tee Higgins (CIN) 9
George Pickens (DAL) 8
Michael Pittman Jr. (IND) 7
Quentin Johnston (LAC) 7
Adams may not play another down in the regular season and could still lead the league in touchdowns. A lot can happen over the next few weeks but anything is possible. Still, 14 touchdowns in 15 games is impressive. That is a big dent in production and hurts fantasy football owners even more.
What Other Impacts May This Have?
In Week 16 against the Seattle Seahawks, the offense ran through Puka Nacua and Colby Parkinson. Nacua was amazing with 225 receiving yards and two touchdowns. He was targeted 16 times and caught 12 passes from Matthew Stafford. Nacua could be in line for another incredible game against Atlanta. The Falcons have been giving up more passing yards of late and 419 to Carolina in Week 11).
A question mark may be Colby Parkinson. Parkinson was in line to get more looks with Adams out but he only had two receptions for 21 yards on four targets. That was surprising. Stafford and Nacua had tunnel vision. Four players besides Nacua had more than four targets. The likelihood that Stafford throws 49 passes is low against Atlanta. Will they run more than 35 times? That is at least possible.
Never sit Matthew Stafford especially this season. Even in defeat to Seattle, he threw for 457 yards and three touchdowns. It should have been enough for a win and yet this was not. The Rams’ defense and particularly secondary should cause Stafford some pause. He has to wonder what it might take to win from week to week now.
Jalen Hurts to Dallas Goedert in the red zone is like Matthew Stafford to Davante Adams
— McArthur Alexander (@mcarthura2007) December 21, 2025
The one area that did cause the Rams some trouble at times was throwing in the red zone against Seattle. After all, Harrison Mevis did have to attempt four field goals (he made three) in the loss. There were a few times where one wondered gee Adams would have scored on that play. Despite that, Los Angeles did still score 37 points against Seattle.
Who Should You Stream In Place Of Adams?
Honestly, the good news is with this many days notice, fantasy football owners do not have to scramble quite as feverishly here. Some teams will let off the gas while others want to see what they have with younger players. Simply, options will be out there. Look toward our wide receiver streamer article that comes out during the week.
It is hard to believe but we are almost to the fantasy football finish line. This has been some year and good luck as the fantasy footbal season approaches its end.
More Fantasy On SI:
Atlanta, GA
Former Alabama prep star, Atlanta Braves outfielder dead at age 67
The funeral service for former Atlanta Braves outfielder Albert Hall is scheduled for 11 a.m. CST Monday at New Mount Zion Baptist Church in Birmingham.
Hall died on Tuesday at age 67.
On Sept. 23, 1987, Hall became the first player to hit for the cycle in an Atlanta Braves uniform and the first for the franchise since Bill Collins did so for the Boston Braves on Oct. 6, 1910. Twenty-one years after Hall’s feat, Mark Kotsay became the second Atlanta player to hit for the cycle on Aug. 14, 2008.
In Atlanta’s 5-4 victory over the Houston Astros, Hall led off the bottom of the first with a single and the bottom of the fifth with a double off Jim Deshaies. In the sixth, Hall hit a solo home run off Deshaies to tie the score at 4-4. Hall started the bottom of the ninth with a triple off reliever Dave Smith and ended the game by scoring on a wild pitch.
A speedy outfielder who stole 455 bases in the minor leagues, Hall went from Jones Valley High School in Birmingham to professional baseball when Atlanta selected him in the sixth round of the 1977 draft.
After hitting .308 and stealing 60 bases for the Southern League’s Savannah Braves in 1981, Hall made his MLB debut on Sept. 12, 1981, as a pinch-runner for catcher Bruce Benedict in the 10th inning of Atlanta’s 5-4 victory over the San Diego Padres.
From 1981 through 1988, Hall played in 375 games for the Braves before completing his MLB career with 20 games with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1989.
Hall posted a career batting average of .251 with a .328 on-base average and .335 slugging percentage. He had 125 runs, 202 hits, 37 doubles, eight triples, five home runs, 53 RBIs and 67 stolen bases in the big leagues.
Hall’s best season game in 1987, when he hit .284 and stole 33 bases in 92 games for Atlanta.
Hall appeared in minor-league games each season from 1977 through 1989, except in 1984 and 1987, when he spent the campaigns completely with Atlanta.
In 946 minor-league games, Hall hit .282 with a .376 on-base average and .372 slugging percentage. In 1980, Hall stole 100 bases for the Carolina League’s Durham Bulls.
After Monday’s service, burial will be at Elmwood Cemetery and Mausoleum in Birmingham.
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