The Athletics continued their interleague series with the Braves today at Truist Park in Atlanta. Making his first official start of the season for the A’s was 30-year-old righty Aaron Civale. He was 4-9 with a 4.85 ERA last season for three MLB ball clubs. Civale matched up against 28-year-old lefty José Suarez for the Braves. Suarez just pitched in nineteen innings for the Braves last season, going 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA.

After a quiet top of the first inning, the Braves got on the board first when reigning National League R-O-Y Drake Baldwin knocked his third homer of the year to give the Braves a 1-0 lead.

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In the top of the second, Brent Rooker led off with a single but was erased on a double play ball by Soderstrom. Max Muncy walked and advanced to second on a balk and scored on a single by Andy Ibáñez. Lawrence Butler and Denzel Clarke each walked and Jacob Wislon hit a ground rule double to drive in two.

The James Beard Awards Foundation announced its official 2026 slate of award nominees on Tuesday, March 31, and two Atlanta names and places are among them.

J. Trent Harris of lauded Midtown restaurant Mujō is nominated in the Best Chef: Southeast category. Additionally, wine-focused Aria (also a finalist last year) was recognized in the Outstanding Hospitality category.

The news comes after eight Atlanta restaurants and bars were originally under consideration when the long list of semifinalists was revealed back in January. The winners will be announced at a ceremony at the Lyric Opera of Chicago on Monday, June 15.

Considered one of the restaurant industry’s most coveted awards, the honors span categories such as Restaurant and Chef Awards, Media Awards (Book, Broadcast Media, Journalism), and Achievement Awards. Last year, the foundation introduced the new category of Impact Awards, which it describes as recognizing “achievement by individuals and/or organizations who are actively working to push for standards that create a more equitable, sustainable, and economically viable restaurant industry.”

The full list of nominations can be found here.

Disclosure: Some Vox Media staff members are part of the voting body for the James Beard Awards.

The Celtics dropped a tough one in Atlanta, falling behind by 21 in the fourth quarter of a game that was tied at halftime. 

The Celtics were missing Jayson Tatum and Neemias Queta, but they had Jaylen Brown, who missed his last two games with left Achilles tendinitis. The Atlanta native finished with an impressive stat line, falling one assist shy of a triple double. But his 29 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists don’t tell the whole story of the game. 

“That was probably one of my worst games of the season,” he told reporters in Atlanta after the loss. “This game was on me. I gotta be better. Probably one of my worst performances in a while, and that cost us.” 

Brown scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to help cut the 21-point Hawks lead down to 11, but they could get no closer than eight. Brown had his chances to make this a monster night, but he shot 9-29 from the field and 8-14 from the free throw line. 

“I missed a lot of easy shots,” he said. “Very physical game. Playoff-like atmosphere, and I don’t think we adjusted quickly enough. They came to play, the refs let a lot of stuff go, and we didn’t adjust to the physicality.” 

Easy shots for Jaylen Brown are tough shots for a lot of people, and there were definitely some tough ones in the mix in this game as well. That’s a credit to the Atlanta Hawks defense, which used speed and length to bother Brown, knowing that without Tatum, they were more free to do so. Maybe they also felt they could exploit his recent bout with tendinitis in his left leg. 

“I felt fine,” he said. “ I’m just trying to get my feet up under me and just maintain my balance and stuff like that.”

He later added, “Everybody’s dealing with something.” 

Luckily for the Celtics, the loss did little damage in the standings. Boston has a two-game edge on New York with seven games to play (including one against each other in New York on April 9). It’s not an impossible gap to close, but it’s not an easy one, either. Especially once Brown gets back on level footing. 

Brown has had bad games before, and he’s never shied away from admitting so afterwards. 

“You can’t throw in the towel if you’re not feeling up to your best. Still got to do what you need to do,” he siad. “You just got to work your way through it, rely on your teammates. But if you’re getting good shots and getting good looks, you got to trust that and keep playing aggressive basketball. Tonight wasn’t the greatest night for my team or myself, but you learn from it and move forward.”