Home Care In Atlanta, GA

SEATTLE -- On a night when Bryce Miller flirted with perfection, then his teammates looked like the ones who’d be no-hit, the Mariners remarkably cast some late-inning magic en route to a 2-1 walk-off win over the Braves on Monday at T-Mobile Park.

Mitch Garver blasted a 412-foot two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning off reliever A.J. Minter, just after Jorge Polanco led off with a single -- all on a night when the Mariners went hitless into the eighth, spoiled a bases-loaded opportunity that inning and looked like they were on the way to a gut-punch loss.

Miller had receded to the training room as Garver stepped to the plate, then he burst back out to the field to take part in the mob of the veteran’s first walk-off homer of his 12-year pro career, including the Minors.

“I was doing arm care and had to run out there,” Miller said. “And I threw my phone across the locker room so I wouldn't have it, and ran out there and everybody's fired up. So we had fun.”

Garver’s heroics salvaged Miller’s stellar start, the Mariners’ latest from a rotation that is making gems custom.

Miller retired each of the first 16 Braves he faced, then carried a no-hit bid through the sixth inning before Ronald Acuña Jr. broke it up with an infield single that chopped off shortstop Dylan Moore’s glove. From there, the reigning National League MVP wreaked havoc on the basepaths by swiping second, then third standing, and he scored on a double from Ozzie Albies that one-hopped the wall in right-center.

Those short sequences looked like they’d prove to be the difference in this series opener pitting first-place teams featuring Atlanta’s juggernaut offense against Seattle’s stingy pitching -- especially after the Mariners had Julio Rodríguez fly out too shallow for a sacrifice fly and Mitch Haniger swing at strike three in the dirt with the bases loaded in the eighth.

But the Mariners wound up getting the final say in their second walk-off win of the year.

“It was really a relief that the game was over,” Garver said. “I mean, we had an opportunity. We had plenty of opportunities to score in that game.”

But relievers Cody Bolton and Austin Voth combined to surrender just one hit with four strikeouts -- bringing the Braves’ strikeout tally to a season-high-tying 14 -- to keep the game within reach. Miller matched a career high with 10.

“I'm at my best when I attack with the heater,” Miller said, “and then they have to adjust to the other stuff. ... If it's working early, we're going to keep going with it and try to adjust as the game goes. But you could tell early it was working, so we stuck with it.”

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The superlatives of Seattle’s rotation have been endless over the past three weeks, with Miller’s gem being the club’s American League-leading 18th quality start. The Mariners have only used five starters and are MLB’s only team with five pitchers with least three quality starts, and only the Giants have four such arms. Seattle advanced to 15-3 when its starter achieves that criteria.

Yet for Miller, 2024 has been a year of extreme ascent.

He outlasted Max Fried, who himself was hitless through the sixth before reaching 100 pitches and behind whom the Braves were 5-0 entering play. He grinded through the heart of Atlanta’s order for three straight outs after Albies’ breakthrough. He reverted back to his primary out pitch -- the four-seam fastball -- for a whopping 15 whiffs and six K’s against a lineup that had outscored opponents 67-to-37 (+30 run differential) in its previous 13 games.

And Miller did so on the heels of a tough start at Texas, when he lasted a season-low four innings.

“They know that the heater is coming,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said of the Braves. “And as a hitter, when you go up there and you know the guy is challenging you with the fastball, you're going to be swinging -- because everybody believes they can hit the fastball, otherwise they wouldn't be in this league.”

Though Seattle’s offense looked more like the group that struggled in its first two weeks than the one that’s found life recently, gems like Miller’s -- and within the rotation’s totality -- show that its starters should keep them in every game, even if pushed to walk-off territory.

SEATTLE -- It didn’t take long for thoughts of a no-no to be replaced with the frustration that followed the "oh no" pitch that doomed the Braves in their 2-1 loss to the Mariners on Monday night at T-Mobile Park.

“One bad pitch can lose you the game,” Braves reliever A.J. Minter said. “You hate it, but that’s what happens.”

With closer Raisel Iglesias unavailable to pitch a third straight day, Minter was assigned to protect a one-run lead in the ninth inning. The veteran lefty surrendered a leadoff single and then missed the strike zone with each of his first three pitches to Mitch Garver. He battled back to 3-2 and then watched Garver line a cutter over the left-center wall.

The Mariners hit just two balls out of the infield through the first eight innings. But none of that mattered once Garver’s homer soared over former Mariners teammate Jarred Kelenic’s head.

Minter entered this outing having not allowed a run over his past nine outings (8 2/3 innings).

“You could tell I didn’t have my A-plus stuff today,” Minter said. “But at the same time, you’ve got to figure a way to get it done and I couldn’t. I just hate it for Max. He pitched an unbelievable game.”

Max Fried and Mariners starter Bryce Miller both carried no-hit bids through six innings. Ronald Acuña Jr.’s infield single to begin the seventh inning accounted for the game’s first hit. Ozzie Albies followed with an RBI double to right-center field, and it looked like that might be all Atlanta would need to win for the 12th time in its last 14 games.

But this went from being a potentially celebratory ending to a rather deflating one. Josh Rojas’ infield single off Joe Jiménez in the eighth inning ended the Braves’ bid for their first no-hitter since Kent Mercker threw one against the Dodgers on April 8, 1994. One inning later, Garver made things worse.

Matt Olson had a 110.5 mph groundout in the fifth, and Michael Harris had a 108.6 mph groundout just after Orlando Arcia’s 104.1 mph groundout in the eighth. But Kelenic’s ninth-inning single was only the Braves’ third hit of the night.

“It was a really good ballgame,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “We couldn’t get a big hit or get anything going.”

Miller recorded 10 strikeouts while limiting the Braves to two hits and a run over seven innings. The Braves whiffed with 15 of 35 swings against the 25-year-old hurler’s four-seam fastball.

His effort was matched by Fried, who recorded seven strikeouts and pitched around a pair of walks while throwing 100 pitches over six scoreless innings. This was the Braves left-hander’s first outing since April 23, when he needed just 92 pitches to throw a three-hit shutout against the Marlins.

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“He’s getting in a really good place and getting his rhythm back again,” Snitker said. “It’s been really good.”

Fried started this season with a pair of horrendous first innings. He allowed three runs over just two-thirds of an inning on March 30 in Philadelphia and then surrendered six more runs in the first inning of his April 6 start against the D-backs.

His season ERA is 4.02. But if you just account for everything beyond the first inning of the Arizona start, he has a 1.51 ERA over his past 29 2/3 innings.

“I feel like I’ve got a really good feel and understanding of where I’m at,” Fried said. “I’m just trying to keep it as simple as possible, which is to attack guys, get some ground balls and keep us in games.”

Mitch Haniger’s fourth-inning flyout to Acuña accounted for the only ball the Mariners hit out of the infield against Fried, who primarily used his fastball, curveball and changeup. The sweeper he used during his first two starts has been thrown just twice over his past two starts.

Fried pleaded to remain in the game beyond the sixth but understood Snitker’s decision to lift him.

“He was like, ‘You’re throwing the ball well and you’re feeling good,’” Fried said. “‘It’s still April, keep the big picture in mind.’ But definitely, I wanted to go back out there, but I understand and respect Snit’s decision.”

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Mark Bowman has covered the Braves for MLB.com since 2001.

Now that the 2024 NFL Draft is over, the Falcons' roster comes into a clearer view for the upcoming season.

DISCLAIMER: The statements and opinions regarding players and/or potential future players in the article below are those of the AtlantaFalcons.com editorial staff and are not of the Atlanta Falcons' football personnel unless noted in a direct quote.

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The 2024 NFL offseason has hit its peaks.

The initial free agency rush passed. The draft is now complete. There will likely be some more signings and releases as workouts continue. But for the most part, the roster is what it'll be when training camp rolls around in late July.

So, let's take a look at what a possible Week 1 depth chart with 53 men could look like for the Atlanta Falcons.

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FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons picked up tight end Kyle Pitts' fifth-year option, the team announced Monday. Pitts is now locked through the 2025 season.

Pitts was the Falcons' No. 4 overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft. The Falcons therefore needed to decide on Pitts' rookie contract fate by May 2, a league-wide deadline for that crop of first-round picks. The decision ultimately had to come before Pitts' fourth year.

So, now Pitts has at least two more seasons in Atlanta ahead of him as 2024 continues.

"He's the mayor of Atlanta," Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said in March at the Annual League Meetings. "I think he wants to come back and have a highly productive year. I think he is excited about his partnership with some of the guys that we've brought in."

Surely the main guy Morris was referring to is Kirk Cousins. The hope is Cousins will return consistency to the quarterback position for the first time since -- arguably -- Pitts was drafted. Since Pitts joined, he has worked with four different starting quarterbacks: Matt Ryan, Marcus Mariota, Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke.

Ryan helped Pitts deliver his best results as a rookie. Pitts had a Pro Bowl season in 2021 with 68 receptions for 1,026 yards and a touchdown. That's 15.1 yards per reception on average. He played in all 17 games, starting 15.

Expectations were high for Pitts in his second season, even amid a QB1 change, but a season-ending PCL/MCL injury in the Falcons' Week 11 win over the Chicago Bears halted those plans. Pitts had 28 receptions for 356 yards and two receptions in 10 starts.

Pitts returned to action in 2023, starting 15 of his 17 game appearances. Whether or not he was at full health was questioned but dismissed throughout the season. Either way, Pitts had 53 receptions for 667 yards and three touchdowns.

Unlike last year, Pitts and his knee should be fully good to go this preseason.

"I don't think we have any limitations on Kyle and what he can do," Morris said.

Now, per league rules, the Falcons can offer Pitts a contract extension before his fifth season (2025) since they did not do so before his fourth. A recent example of this in action can be seen in what the Falcons did with offensive lineman Chris Lindstrom. He was their No. 14 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. The Falcons picked up his fifth-year option in 2022 and then offered him a contract extension in 2023. He's now contracted with the team through 2028.

If following a similar timeline, then Pitts will have the 2024 season to prove his long-term worth. Otherwise, he'd become a free agent come 2026.

It is always difficult to say goodbye to a favorite restaurant, especially one that’s been around for a while. Here’s the latest round of restaurant closures around the city.

Kaleidoscope Bistro & Pub Pours Last Round of Drinks April 29

Chef Joey Riley’s Brookhaven bistro and bar, Kaleidoscope, opened 14 years ago in 2010. On April 29, the bar will serve the last of its patrons. KPub, as it was known, has served many a beers on tap with pimento cheeseburgers.

In a tribute instagram post, Riley says, “It’s never easy to say goodbye, so let’s at least make it fun,” Riley says in a tribute Instagram post. “We’ll toast you with loads of sudsy pints, share favorite memories and meals, and exchange hugs that will last long enough to make us all cry!”

Israeli restaurant Aziza, and Adjoining Falafel Nation Close on April 6

Aziza, the Israeli restaurant by chef Tal Baum at West Side Provisions District, closed its doors after five years on April 6. The connecting lunch spot, Falafel Nation, has also closed. Baum, the founder and proprietor of Oliva Restaurant Group, is behind Carmel in Buckhead, Atrium and Bellina Alimentari in Ponce City Market, and Rina in Old Fourth Ward.

Pijiu Belly Closes After 10 Years on April 7

This West Midtown staple was known for its whole Korean fried rotisserie chicken, ramen bowls, and bento box lunches. It was a popular hang out spot for Georgia Tech students on trivia nights. It was even visited by chef and TV personality Guy Fieri for an episode of Diners, Drive-in, and Dives on Food Network in 2019.

In an instagram post, the restaurant team thanks customers for 10 years of business and says, “we are sad to close, but our hearts are full.”

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January-March closings