ATLANTA - The changes keep coming for the Atlanta Braves.Already in the market for a general manager, theyll have to hire a new hitting coach as well.Greg Walker resigned from the coaching staff Tuesday, a move that was expected after the Braves struggled through a miserable season offensively.Atlanta batted .241 as a team and scored only 573 runs, the second-lowest total in the majors. Only seven teams hit fewer homers than the Braves (123), an especially troubling number because the team had the fourth-most strikeouts (1,369) and was supposedly built for power.Down the stretch, the offence was especially feeble. The Braves lost 18 of their final 25 games to fall out of playoff contention, a stretch that included six shutouts and an average of less than 2.4 runs per game.In a statement issued by the team, Walker said he told manager Fredi Gonzalez of the decision to quit during the final weekend of the season at Philadelphia.I grew up in south Georgia and have been a Braves fan my whole life, said Walker, a native of Douglas. I am grateful for the opportunity they gave me.Walker had been the hitting coach for three years, coming to Atlanta after serving in the same position with the Chicago White Sox from 2003-11.Gonzalez is scheduled to meet Wednesday with interim general manager John Hart, a session that could lead to more changes on the coaching staff. Walkers assistant hitting coach, Scott Fletcher, is also thought to be in jeopardy.Its so easy to blame the coaches in any sport, Gonzalez said the day after the season ended. Would I like to keep my staff completely? Absolutely. Is that going to happen? Ill call you as soon as I get out of the meeting.The Braves began their overhaul by firing general manager Frank Wren with a week to go in the season. They finished 79-83, only their third losing season in the last 24 years.The new GM will be hired by a committee comprised of Hart, team president John Schuerholz and former manager Bobby Cox.Cox has expressed strong support for keeping Gonzalez as manager, but the new GM will likely have the final say on whether theres a change in the dugout.I feel more for the coaches than I do myself, Gonzalez said. Thats part of it from my end.___Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 Custom San Jose Sharks Jerseys . Viewers in the Canadiens region can watch the game on TSN at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt and listen on TSN 690. The Canadiens have won three in a row and four of their last five games and recently put the finishing touches on a 3-1-0 road trip. Custom New York Knicks Jerseys . The Swiss won on the fastest run-time tiebreaker after the four-racer teams tied 2-2. Wendy Holdener and Reto Schmidiger won their final heats against Julia Mancuso and Tim Jitloff, respectively. https://www.cheapcustomjerseysonline.com...lphins-jerseys/. Hes coming back to fulfil them. One of Europes top coaches, Blatt was hired Friday by the Cavaliers, who ended a sweeping, 39-day search with an out-of-the-box selection they hope changes their fortunes. Custom Miami Heat Jerseys . Jackson Houck added a goal and two assists for the Giants (28-23-10), who halted a five-game slide, while Tyler Morrison, Mason Geertsen and Dominik Volek each scored once. Matt Bellerive scored both goals for the Blazers (12-43-5), who are 1-9-0 in their last 10 outings. Custom Chicago Blackhawks Jerseys . - The infectious smile was missing from Nam Nguyen last week.SAINT JOHN, N.B. -- Canadas Rachel Homan opened the Ford Womens World Curling Championship with a 7-5 win over Russia on Saturday. The skip and her teammates know properly managing sleep, diet, stress and downtime for another eight days will keep those wins coming. Homan, third Emma Miskew and front end Alison Kreviazuk and Lisa Weagle have played in enough national and international events to know their off-ice schedule impacts the on-ice performance, particularly in the important games at the end of the tournament. The Canadians will sleep as much as they can and eat at pre-scouted establishments that serve healthy food. When they need to mentally "check out", the Ottawa Curling Club foursome will play cards or "Heads Up", which is a game app popularized by Ellen DeGeneres. In short, winning a world title is a marathon and not a sprint. "We make sure were trying to keep it as loose as possible when were not on the ice because its pretty stressful out there wearing the Maple Leaf," Homan said. "We want to be as stress-free as possible when were not playing." For Homan, that means going to the gym a couple of times during the tournament. Miskew doesnt love napping, but she knows its important to lay down, put her feet up and close her eyes for awhile, particularly on a day when Canada plays morning and evening draws and not in the afternoon. Thats Canadas schedule Sunday when the host team faces the Czech Republic in the morning draw and the United States in the evening. Those days are the toughest when it comes to eating at the right time of the day. "The eating schedule is challenging because you eat in the morning, have a game and youre starving to eat a big lunch," Miskew explains. "Youre not really hungry before your next game, but an end or two in youre starving. You almost have to force yourself to eat before the game so youre not dying during the game." Canada had a kind opening-day schedule in Saint John with one game in the afternoon draw. Homan had hammer coming home with the score tied 5-5. She didnt have to throw her last stone because Russian skip Anna Sidorova was heavy with a draw. Latvias Evita Regza, South Koreas Ji-Sun Kim and Swedens Margaretha Sigfridsson also opened with wins, while Scotlands Kerry Barr, Denmarks Madeleine Dupont and Anna Kubeskova of the Czech Republic joined Russia at 0-1. Canadas average age is 25.5 and the Russians are even younger at 23.5. Sidorova, vice-skip Margarita Fomina and front end Alexandra Saitova and Ekaterina Galkina went 3-6 at the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Sidorova, 25, is making her fifth straight appearance at a world championship and her third as a skip.dddddddddddd Russia was scheduled to arrive in Saint John on Thursday, but they were delayed until Friday because of winter storms that wreaked havoc on air travel midweek. The Canada-Russia opener wasnt a classic as both teams made mistakes. But when Canada made a costly error, Russia let them off the hook with one of their own. "I cant say were really tired," Sidorova said. "Were ready to play. We still want to win. "We need to be much better than the others. Thats probably the goal this week and hopefully we will (be). The game was pretty tight, but in the end, they were just better than us." Miskews shooting percentage was 90 per cent compared to Fominas 78. Homan outcurled Sidorova 89 to 66 per cent. Saitova at 78 per cent and Galkina at 91 outcurled Kreviazuk and Weagle both at 71. Kreviazuk missed shots in the fifth and seventh ends, but Russia handed momentum right back with lethal errors. Canada scored two points in those ends to lead 5-3. "Its the first game so youre not going to know the ice perfectly," Homan said. "A couple of spots were learning and a few misses here and there, not because were throwing badly, just because were learning the ice." Russia countered with two in the ninth to tie it up. Homans double takeout that end limited damage from Miskew miscue. Another double from the Canadian skip in the eighth erased Russias chance to score two and forced Sidorova to blank the end. Homan was pleased to start the tournament with a win in front of 2,848 at Harbour Station, which seats 6,000 for curling this week. "It wouldnt have been fun to lose that one with everyone coming out to cheer us on," the 24-year-old Canadian skip said. "Im glad we got the win under our belts. Now weve got the night off to have some dinner with friends and family and re-group for tomorrow." Homan and company won the bronze medal at last years world womens championship in Riga, Latvia. Their reward for a 13-0 record at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Montreal was a return trip to the world championship and in their own country this time. The Jennifer Jones team from Winnipeg went undefeated in Sochi to claim gold for Canada. Edmontons Kelsey Rocque won the world junior title earlier this month in Switzerland. Homan wants to continue the domination of Canadian women on the world stage. The last Canadian team to win a womens world curling title was Jones in 2008 in Vernon, B.C. Kelly Scott (2007) and Colleen Jones (2004) earned Canadas other world womens titles in the last decade. ' ' '