The Evening TiltBraves Silenced, Five Stripes Rescued

The Evening Tilt

Friday, May 16 — Three sports, three stories, one city.

### Braves 2, Red Sox 3

The best offense in baseball managed four hits. That is the entire sentence.

Payton Tolle, a right-hander for the 18-26 Red Sox, threw eight dominant innings on 85 pitches — the kind of outing that makes you check the rotation's ERA and remember that individual pitchers can be excellent on bad teams. Bryce Elder held a 2-1 lead into the 8th before Willson Contreras parked a two-run homer into the left-field seats. Chapman closed it. Braves fall to 31-15.

Ellis has the full breakdown: this is noise, not signal. Elder was fine. The offense will return. But four hits against a last-place starter is the kind of number that lingers in the box score even when the standings don't budge.

### Orlando City 1, Atlanta United 1

Eleven shots. Five on goal. An xG edge. And still Atlanta United needed Jay Fortune's 86th-minute equalizer to avoid a fourth straight loss.

The stats say United were the better team. The scoreboard says they drew. The calendar says the Open Cup quarterfinal is at the same stadium Tuesday night.

Tito called tonight a rehearsal. The question: can the Five Stripes convert their dominance when elimination is at stake?

### Falcons: The 'Soft' Discourse

The NFL schedule dropped, and the national conversation about Atlanta is already heated. Warren Sharp called the Falcons 'soft' for reportedly asking the league not to schedule them against the Saints on the Katrina anniversary. ESPN's Mike Clay projects 5.7 wins. DraftKings has the over/under at 7.5.

Dex wasn't having it. His take: the label says more about the national media's laziness than Atlanta's character.

Tomorrow: Braves-Red Sox game 3 at Truist Park. Sunday: United at the Battery for a fan event ahead of Tuesday's Cup quarterfinal.