Atlanta

Leila Denmark, 114, the world's oldest practicing physician when she retired at age 103, died Sunday in Athens, Ga. Dr. Denmark became the first resident physician at Henrietta Egleston Hospital for Children in Atlanta when it opened in 1928, said her grandson, Steven Hutcherson of Atlanta. She also admitted the first patient at the hospital, now part of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. She loved helping children, and it showed in the way she would turn to the next family waiting to see her, Hutcherson said.

NEW ORLEANS - The Atlanta Falcons can forget about perfection, thanks to their resurgent rivals from the City that Care Forgot. Of all the teams to end Atlanta's unbeaten run, it had to be the New Orleans Saints. And it had to be a memorable, drama-filled game that left the Falcons frustrated by the 1 meager yard they could not get to take a lead inside the final 2 minutes of a 31-27 loss Sunday. "It's very frustrating," said Falcons coach Mike Smith, who is 2-7 against the Saints and 49-15 against the rest of the NFL in his four-plus regular seasons as Atlanta coach.

The Atlanta Braves didn't take batting practice outdoors yesterday at Wrigley Field. So they waited until the game started. The Braves hit five homers, including three straight in the first inning, had 24 hits and set team records with 19 runs and 46 total bases. The result: a 19-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs, Atlanta's 10th victory in 11 games. "It was a windy day at Wrigley Field. I've been there before," Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. "An eight-run lead with the wind blowing out is not much.

ATLANTA - The Atlanta Falcons raced to a 17-0 lead, and the defense made it stand up, picking off five of Drew Brees' passes and ending his NFL-record touchdown streak with a 23-13 victory Thursday night. The Falcons (11-1) moved to the brink of clinching the NFC South and dealt a big blow to the Saints (5-7) and their fading playoff hopes. William Moore had two of the five interceptions, which were the most of Brees' career. Brees had thrown a touchdown pass in 54 consecutive games.

Who: San Francisco (2) at Atlanta (1) When: Sunday, 3 p.m. TV: Fox29 (Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Pam Oliver & Erin Andrews) Radio: WIP 94.1-FM (Dave Sims, James Lofton, Tony Boselli) Point spread: 49ers -4 Over/under: 49 Last meeting: Matt Bryant kicked the game-winning field goal as the Falcons beat the visiting 49ers, 16-14, on Oct. 3, 2010. The most memorable play was Roddy White forcing a fumble after Nate Clements made what seemed like a game-sealing interception.

ATLANTA - As a part of the ceremonies for Civil Rights Game weekend, the Phillies and Braves will wear throwback uniforms for two consecutive days. On Saturday, the Phillies will wear gray Philadelphia Stars jerseys with navy blue caps to honor the Negro League team. Then on Sunday, it's the powder-blue uniform with maroon hats from 1974. That was the year Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's career home run record. - Matt Gelb

Perhaps you've heard. Barry Bonds has been barely noticeable when it comes to the postseason. He's hitting .196 in 27 playoff games. So the day before Bonds and the San Francisco Giants were to meet Atlanta in Game 1 of their best-of-five series, it was left for Giants manager Dusty Baker to discuss Bonds' history. Bonds wasn't available to reporters. At first, Baker said "not really" when asked if he had any idea why Bonds had flopped in the postseason. The miserable statistics include one home run in 97 at-bats.

ATLANTA - The Falcons sent a message to all the skeptics with a resounding victory Sunday over the defending Super Bowl champions. Matt Ryan threw three touchdowns passes as the defense handed the New York Giants their first regular-season shutout since 1996 in Atlanta's 34-0 win. Julio Jones caught a couple of scoring throws from Ryan, who broke his own franchise records for completions and passing yards in a season. The Penn Charter grad finished 23 of 28 for 270 yards. The Giants, meanwhile, were 0 for 3 on fourth down and missed a short field goal.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - For guys like Roy Halladay, Mike Stutes and Phillippe Aumont, the next week is as much of a stretch run as a baseball player can experience in March. For Domonic Brown, the heavy lifting is done. We can say all of this with a fair amount of certainty after spending Thursday afternoon taking the temperature inside the coaches' offices at Bright House Field. Manager Charlie Manuel still isn't ready to proclaim Brown an everyday corner outfielder, but that's pretty much what he did when he hung up the lineup for that night's game in Fort Myers against the Red Sox. Fort Myers is the longest bus trip of the spring, and most players would rather not make it, and this trip is particularly bad because the game is at night, which means the team bus probably won't be getting back to Clearwater until after midnight.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - When Adam Morgan was 16, he had a chance to pitch to current Braves star Jason Heyward when the two played on the same travel team. "I got ahead of him, I remember, two strikes, and then that next pitch I tried to hump up and blow one by him," Morgan recalled, "and it went off the centerfield wall. " Morgan did not get a chance to face Heyward on Friday, but he did have plenty of success against his Atlanta teammates, holding the Braves to one run in 4 2/3 innings after the Phillies recalled him from minor league camp for a spot start.