ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves boosted their rotation and added a right-handed bat to their bench by acquiring left-hander Paul Maholm and outfielder Reed Johnson from the Chicago Cubs.
Braves acquire
Maholm, Johnson from Cubs
ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves boosted their rotation and added a right-handed bat to their bench by acquiring left-hander Paul Maholm and outfielder Reed Johnson from the Chicago Cubs.
Braves general manager Frank Wren confirmed late Monday night the team is sending right-handed pitchers Arodys Vizcaino, a top prospect who had season-ending Tommy John surgery in April, and Jaye Chapman to the Cubs.
The 29-year-old Maholm is 9-6 with a 3.74 ERA, including a 4-0 record and 1.23 ERA in July. He is 62-79 in eight seasons, including seven with Pittsburgh.
Johnson is hitting .333 against left-handers this season. He is 13-for-29 (.448) as a pinch hitter. The Braves have won six straight and trail first-place Washington by 31⁄2 games in the NL East.
State police looking
into Dyer traffic stop
A state trooper who found marijuana and a gun in a car driven by Arkansas State running back Michael Dyer offered to call his coach even though he worried about “NCAA crap” and other fallout, according to video of a traffic stop released Monday.
Arkansas State Police released the 58-minute video and said it had completed an internal investigation into the March 10 stop. It released no details about the investigation, saying it involved personnel matters almost certainly tied to the actions of Trooper Royce Denney.
Dyer was ticketed for going 96 mph in a 70 mph zone, though audio and video from the stop indicate that either Dyer or another unidentified female were in possession of marijuana and a gun. Denney can be heard on the video talking at length with Dyer about how he should handle the incident.
“What if I talk to (coach) Gus Malzahn, or however you say his name?” Denney asks at one point. “I really don’t want to tell him about this because of the NCAA crap. I know there’s a lot of stuff that goes on behind closed doors between coaches and players. I’m still in a predicament, even if I talk to coach.”
Denney also asks Dyer: “What about the weed?” and whether the running back thought it would be “all out of your system” in a month. He berates Dyer for having a gun, saying “You don’t need it. If you think it makes you look cool, you’re stupid.”
“It pisses me off that someone of your stature and your ability does this kind of stupid (expletive),” Denney adds.
The trooper also asked Dyer if the running back wanted him to hold on to the gun, and Dyer says yes.
“I didn’t say keep it,” Denney responds. “Maybe we can get together some other time, and you can have it back after me and coach talk. You understand? … I’m going to let coach make the decision for me. Or, for you. If he wants me to keep it, I’ll keep it. If he wants me to get it delivered to him, I’ll get it delivered to him or whatever.”
It was unclear whether the trooper contacted Malzahn or Arkansas State about the traffic stop. The Associated Press requested comment from Malzahn at midday Monday. State police spokesman Bill Sadler said Denney is not currently conducting patrols.
Stephens, Blake advance;
Oudin, Baker ousted in DC
WASHINGTON — No. 3 seed Sloane Stephens and James Blake survived three-set fights in their opening matches at the Citi Open on Monday. Fellow Americans Melanie Oudin and Brian Baker weren’t so fortunate.
Stephens defeated Sesil Karatantcheva 6-3, 2-6, 6-1, while Blake rallied from a set down for only his second tour win of the year, advancing to the second round with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 triumph over No. 5 seed Pablo Andujar.
Up an early break in both the first and third sets, Oudin fell 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5) to Aravane Rezai. Baker, who made a surprising run to the round of 16 at Wimbledon in June, couldn’t capitalize on a good start in losing 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to Florent Serra.
No. 2 Chanelle Scheepers and fifth-seeded Barbora Zahlavova Strycova also lost first-round matches at the Citi Open, a staple on the ATP schedule that is combining with the WTA Tour for the first time.
Stephens reached the fourth round at the French Open and the third at Wimbledon this year. The Floridian narrowly missed a berth on the U.S. Olympic team, and since Wimbledon has made first-round exits in her last two tournaments.
By wire sources