The Morning TiltSunday, May 24, 2026
Two games today. Two different things at stake. The Braves answer for Saturday's one-hit shutout in a rubber match at 4:10 PM. Atlanta United plays for the mood of 55 days of silence.
Two games today. Two different things at stake.
Braves Martin Perez gets the rubber match against Washington at 4:10 PM at Truist Park. That is the most important sentence this morning. The lineup managed one hit in Saturday's shutout loss — Ellis has the autopsy, and it is one of the better things we've published this week. Today's question is simpler: how does the best offense in baseball respond?
Perez is the answer they are betting on. 2-2, 2.85 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 38 strikeouts in 41 innings. Not the headliner in a rotation that includes Sale and Strider. The steadying presence you hand the ball when the series needs a clinch. He faces Foster Griffin (5-2, 4.02 ERA). The Braves are 36-17, 10 games clear in the NL East. Rubber matches tell you whether a bad night was a bad night or something the clubhouse carries forward.
Atlanta United At Columbus. 5:00 PM. The result that sits with the city until July 17.
Both teams are broken in their own specific way. Atlanta United at 3-2-8, 14th in the East, one win in nine. Columbus at 3-7-4, 13th, in coaching flux after firing Henrik Rydstrom on May 17. Laurent Courtois is the interim. Miranchuk leads the Five Stripes with 5 goals and 2 assists in 10 starts. Latte Lath is questionable with illness. Almirón aims for one final appearance before the World Cup break shuts everything down. Whatever happens at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field is the mood for nearly two months.
Falcons OTAs off this weekend, back Monday. Miles has the sharpest thing written about the QB competition this week — Penix's 7-on-7 reps tell you the brain is ready. The body is a different question.
Hawks Thirty days to the draft. Simone on what pick eight means for the city — worth your morning.
One more thing. First pitch at 4:10. Kickoff at 5:00. For about two hours this afternoon, both Atlanta games run simultaneously — the best team in baseball at Truist Park and the most frustrated team in the city ninety miles north in Columbus. Sundays like this are what four-team towns were built for.
The Tilt
Best team in baseball and most frustrated team in the city. Same afternoon.
— Ray Piedmont
What's your take?
Ray Piedmont
The Morning Tilt daily brief — synthesis, efficiency, cross-sport.
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