During the most recent MNF game, the Giants’ QB Jaxson Dart got crunched by two Rams as he launched a pass downfield. With replay, everyone could see that his left knee was, at the very least, hyperextended. Not the ugliest injury you’ve ever seen on a football field – LT/Theismann is still the reigning champ, IMO – but enough to make you at least wince. 

After initial conjecture that Dart was probably going to be OK, not to mention a PR-peddled monomyth that the Giants had to “take his uniform away from him to keep him returning to the field,” it turns out that… yeah, he’s really injured & he’ll have season-ending surgery. Result: After two games in 2026, the Giants are pretty fooked. (If you doubt that, you probably didn’t watch the performance of Dart’s replacement Jameis Winston, who played like he’d just shotgunned a bottle of Robitussin.)

Back in BravesLand, I flipped on my iPhone last night just in time to see RAJ foul a ball straight off his shinbone. He took a few steps, then collapsed to the ground, writhing. Really? Now?

I’ll admit, there are times when RAJ goes down and looks like a soccer player conning a ref for a penalty kick, then he’s, y’know, OK. But, at first blush, this was different. The replay revealed a direct, ball-on-bone smackaroo. It looked truly painful and maybe worse. I thought of Dart (and previous RAJ catastrophes) & how things can go very wrong in an instant.

Luckily, it turned out that RAJ didn’t break a bone & suffer another season-ending injury. I can’t imagine winning another title without him. Yeah… this year, I think we’re really gonna need him.

The Game: Tonight at Truist Park, the Braves defeated the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 in 10 innings. Mauricio Dubón added another chapter in his folk-hero story with an infield chopper that drove in Manfred Man DaShawn Keirsey for the game-winner. Given the circumstances – doesn’t really matter, right? – it was a fairly ho-hum comeback victory. But a win is a win, and this was #93 for the season.

At this point, we’re really just looking to see if Chris Sale is sharp in this tuneup for the post-season… and tonight, save one pitch, he was certainly himself. On Sale’s fifth pitch of the game, the hot-swinging, rookie RF Juan Brito swatted a belly-high, 97-MPH, 4-seamer over the CF fence – 1-0 Cincy.

Otherwise, his slider was devastating to righties like Elly De La Cruz & Sal Stewart, the Reds’ two best hitters, both of whom looked helpless in their 1st-inning ABs. That’s what you wanna see. After 2 IP, Sale had 5 Ks.

In the 3rd, he recorded a couple harmless pop-ups with upstairs heaters that defensive Reds hitters couldn’t handle. With 2 outs, Brito stroked a single to CF – Sale Buster? – but he struck out De La Cruz looking on an unhittable slider that just ticked the bottom of the zone.

In the 4th, he blew away Stewart again, this time with straight upstairs heat, and did the same with Dane Myers before he plunked Eugenio Suarez on the hand. After 2B Matt McLain dunked a shallow single into RF, sending Suarez to third, he did us a favor by getting thrown out trying to steal second – Drake to Ozzie, right on the money.

Ex-Yankee Oswaldo Cabrera led off the 5th with a cue-shot double that trickled out of Matt Olson’s reach and hooked over the 1B bag into foul territory. Sale recorded a K & a groundout, then for some reason, Cabrera stole third with Brito at bat. Why anyone tries to steal third with 2 outs & a legit threat at the plate still puzzles me, but Sale retired Brito on a 5-3 ground out.

One might’ve thought Sale was done there (86 pitches), but WW let him go back for the 6th, apparently to attain his 200th K of the season. After De La Cruz popped to right, he got it by whiffing Stewart for the third time. With that, Sale was done at 97 pitches – 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 10 K, 0 BB. I’d say he was in fine form. We’ll certainly see him again next Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Braves offense still hadn’t awakened since clinching the division in Houston on Sunday. Reds’ lefty junkballer Andrew Abbott kept the Braves at bay by changing speeds with an assortment of low-velocity heaters, deft changeups, sharp sweepers, and lollipop curves that didn’t always hit 80 MPH.

Going into the bottom of the 6th, the Braves only had 3 hits – an Olson bloop double, a Riley single, a Dubón infield hit – and a walk (after which, Brewer Hicklen was caught leaning & picked off first). But with 2 outs, Olson wacked Abbott’s high, lazy sweeper over the CF fence for HR #41 – 1-1 tie.

Enter Robert Suarez, whose first 31 appearances in ’26 resulted in a 0.56 ERA. Of course, he went onto the IL in June with forearm tightness/strain & right-elbow inflammation. On Suarez’s first pitch back, McLain tripled off the RF bricks, then he later scored on a Will Banfield sac fly to RF – 2-1 Cincy. For the record, Suarez had a lively fastball topping out at 99.

Earlier in the game, after Riley wrapped a single to CF, I did a quick check of his stats – I mean, I know they’re bad (0.8 WAR, .220/.292/.359), but I didn’t quite realize he had 193 Ks so far. My thought was… I sure hope he’s got a couple magic swings in him next week. Lucky for the Bravos, he got an early start – leading off the ATL 7th, Riley blasted Abbott’s 91-MPH heater just over the CF fence – 2-2 tie.

Dylan Lee pitched a perfect 8th, then Raisel Iglesias did the same in the 9th, striking out the side. The Braves didn’t seriously threaten, so… free baseball. Lefty Brent Suter got in the act by pitching a perfect 10th, which included a strikeout of Cabrera on a wicked changeup.

Bottom 10 with Luis Mey on the mound & DaShawn Keirsey as the Manfred Man, H.S. Kim bunted the speedster to third. Mey then plunked Drake on the foot, setting up Dubón for the hero role. Mission accepted.

Dubón chopped a 3-2 sinker high off the plate – too high for Mey to have any chance on the breaking Keirsey, who dove in for the winning run. 3-2 ATL. Ho-hum. Four contests left until the games get real again.

Tomorrow night, the Braves go for the series victory with Tyler Mahle (4-1, 1.28 ERA in 8 starts as a Brave) facing off with Reds RHP Brady Singer (6-15, 5.67). Go Braves.

Hurt