Ronald Acuna Jr. joined the exclusive 40-40 club, pitcher Charlie Morton left the game in the first inning and the Atlanta Braves beat the Washington Nationals 9-6 on Friday night.

CONWAY, S.C. (AP) — Darren Grainger threw for one touchdown and ran for another and Georgia Southern defeated Coastal Carolina 30-17 in a Sun Belt Conference opener on Thursday night. Grainger was 15 of 26 for 191 yards and kept the ball 13 times for 47 yards to help the Panthers (4-0) extend their best start in school history. Marcus Carroll carried 29 times for 150 yards and a score.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Everyone knows about Ronald Acuña Jr., his bid to join the 40-40 club and his MVP candidacy. Matt Olson leads the majors in homers. The NL East champion Atlanta Braves know Ozzie Albies is doing his part, too. Albies went 4 for 6, including his 32nd homer, and topped 100 RBIs in a season for the second time by driving in four runs, Acuña scored his 140th run of 2023 — the most in the majors in 16 years — and Olson delivered home run No. 53 to lift Atlanta past the last-place Washington Nationals 10-3 on Thursday night.

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons are desperately hoping to have enough success this season to end long playoff droughts. Detroit hasn't played beyond the regular season since 2016 and Atlanta's last postseason appearance was in 2017, ranking among the longest streaks behind the New York Jets' 12-year run of futility.

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — First-year UAB coach Trent Dilfer says watching game film of No. 1 Georgia takes him back to his days as an Super Bowl-winning quarterback. Dilfer realizes that’s not good news for his Blazers against the two-time defending national champion Bulldogs on Saturday night.

ATLANTA (AP) — Nick Castellanos' teammates didn't want him to catch it. Neither did his manager. Even the Phillies right fielder thought about dropping the fly ball as it sailed toward him in foul territory. Then a voice told him to make the catch. Good thing he listened.

ATLANTA (AP) — Ronald Acuña Jr. homered twice on his bobblehead night and stole his 67th base, leaving him one long ball shy of becoming Major League Baseball’s first 40-60 player, and the Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 9-3 on Tuesday night to stop a four-game losing streak.

ATLANTA (AP) — Kyle Schwarber didn't sound too impressed with his latest long home run. The Phillies' slugger was just glad to beat a tough division rival. “I would’ve took it if it had gone in the first row,” he said. “It was a good offensive day all around for all of us.” Schwarber hit a 483-foot two-run homer, and Philadelphia went deep four other times to back Zack Wheeler in a 7-1 win over the Atlanta Braves on Monday night.

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons are in rare territory, sitting at 2-0 for only the 11th time in franchise history. There are plenty of things to be hopeful about, led by rookie Bijan Robinson. After the Falcons raised plenty of eyebrows by selecting the Texas running back with the No. 8 pick in the draft, Robinson quickly has silenced the skeptics with two dynamic performances to begin his NFL career.

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Top-ranked Georgia will be without starting right tackle Amarius Mims indefinitely as Kirby Smart says the Bulldogs carry the longest injury list in his eight years as coach. Smart said Monday that Mims will have surgery for a left ankle sprain suffered in last week's 24-14 win over South Carolina. Mims is expected to miss at least a few weeks, including Saturday's game against UAB.