The four-day Peach State Classic senior softball tournament will begin today at the Al Bishop Softball Complex, with a special group of players taking part. The RECNAC CAN-sirs, a team of cancer survivors from Georgia and neighboring states, will play two games today at 10:30 a.m. and noon. RECNAC is “cancer” spelled backwards. The CAN-sirs organization, which got its start in California, is comprised of senior softball players that have either survived cancer or are currently battling the disease. One member of the group, Augusta attorney Terry Leiden, authored of the book “Get Back in the Game: An Inspirational Story of Cancer Survivors.” “CAN-sirs, the national organization out of California, heard about my book and asked me to form a team here in Georgia, and that’s what I did,” said Leiden, a prostate cancer survivor who manages the team. “I asked the folks at the Peach State Classic if we could play a couple of exhibition games during the tournament, and they said OK. “Most of the people who play on our team are a part of other tournament teams already competing this weekend, so they could leave right after our game is over and go play for their other team later. No matter how things work out, we’re excited to be a part of this.” Leiden started the CAN-sirs team in March. The team played its first few games in Augusta and sports a 1-2 record entering today’s games. “We’re a competitive team, and maybe we’ll win our games (today),” Leiden said. “We have 13 players on the team, but we’ve lost three of them due to scheduling issues. We have players from Augusta, west Alabama, other parts of Georgia, and a guy from Chattanooga on the team. It’s an all men’s team right now, but we’re looking for some women to play as well.” As part of the exhibition event, Leiden will be on hand to distribute free copies of his book. “I have four boxes of the books and will be giving them away,” Leiden said. “I hope that lots of people read it and they like it because it’s funny, even though I’m dealing with a strong subject like cancer.” Leiden said cancer patients ages 14 and under are invited to attend today’s games. The team’s tradition is to give each patient their favorite player’s shirt after the final game. “If a kid with cancer comes out at the end of the game and asks for our shirt, we’ll give it to them right off our back,” Leiden said. “To have a 12-year-old talk to a 73-year-old about cancer, one of the questions we get is, ‘And you’re still alive?’ Kids pick up on that. Cancer doesn’t have to beat you, no matter what age you are. “Our team proves that you’re not dead just because you have cancer.”

ATLANTA — Kris Medlen issued a blanket apology to every coach he’s ever had. At least he could laugh about an inexplicable defensive blunder. Medlen shook off a Little League-like mistake with seven strong innings, Chris Johnson hit a three-run homer and the Atlanta Braves bounced back from a doubleheader sweep, beating the New York Mets 5-3 Wednesday night. Johnson went deep in the fourth for his first homer since May 13. Jordan Schafer put the Braves ahead to stay with some gutsy baserunning in the fifth, scoring on a wild pitch that didn’t even roll off the dirt around home plate. Atlanta evened the five-game series after losing twice on Tuesday. Medlen (4-7) was still trying to figure out what he was thinking in the top half of the fifth. With a 3-0 lead thanks to Johnson, two runners aboard and no outs, the right-hander got just what he wanted — a grounder right back to the mound. An easy double play, right? Not so fast. For some reason, Medlen whirled and threw to third — apparently thinking triple play — but the ball skipped past the bag and rolled toward left field. Instead of getting two outs, both runners came around to score. “It was like I blacked out, and when I woke up, the ball was in left field,” Medlen said. “It’s one of those plays that as you’re making it, you’re like, ‘What the hell are you doing?’” Manager Fredi Gonzalez wondered the same thing as he watched the play unfold. “I hope no kids were watching that,” he said. “I’ve never seen that before. Maybe in 10-and-under baseball, but I don’t think I’ve seen that play — ever. Believe me, we don’t practice that.” Medlen bounced back from the miscue, giving up six hits and only one earned run, while striking out seven. He didn’t walk anyone and even picked up the first stolen base of his career in the sixth. He had the bag in his locker after the game, a souvenir to help him forget that other play. Maybe. “We won, so I’m happy,” he said. “But it feels like we lost.” Shawn Marcum (0-9) knows that that feels like. He became just the third pitcher in Mets history to start a season dropping nine straight decisions. “Balls are not falling his way. We haven’t given him run support, either,” catcher John Buck said. “It’s just not going real well for him. When I’m back there, I feel like we’re in control of everything. It’s always just one mistake or that one inning that seems to bite him.” The Braves scored first with two outs in the fourth. B.J. Upton and Dan Uggla hit back-to-back singles, and then Marcum left a 2-0 pitch over the plate to Johnson. He drove it into the left-field seats, slapping hands emphatically with first-base coach Terry Pendleton on his way around the bases. “It felt good. Not just the homer, but hitting it with guys on base,” Johnson said. “I like to drive guys in.” Medlen gave the runs right back in the fifth. Former Sprayberry High School star Marlon Byrd led off with a single and Lucas Duda was plunked, putting two runners aboard to set up the baffling throw to third. Kirk Nieuwenhuis followed with a bloop single just inside the right-field line to bring home Buck with the tying run. “I deserved that,” Medlen said. The Braves quickly reclaimed the lead in the bottom half of the inning. Schafer led off with a double and advanced on Andrelton Simmons’ sacrifice before Freddie Freeman walked. It looked as if Marcum might escape the jam when he struck out Justin Upton. But a pitch to Brian McCann bounced off Buck’s chest protector, rolling off to the catcher’s right. Schafer was nearly halfway down the line already — the Mets shifted their defense against McCann, leaving only third baseman David Wright on the left side of the infield — and the runner broke for home as soon as he saw the ball get away. Even though it rolled only to the edge of the grass and Buck made a quick flip to Marcum covering home, Schafer slid headfirst under the tag. “Great instincts,” Gonzalez said. B.J. Upton followed with an RBI double that gave the Braves a two-run cushion, finishing off Marcum. He surrendered six hits and walked four in 4 2/3 innings. Medlen pitched into the eighth, coming out after giving up a bloop single to pinch hitter Josh Satin leading off the inning. Luis Avilan got Mets newcomer Eric Young Jr. to hit into a double play, and Craig Kimbrel struck out two in a perfect ninth for his 20th save in 23 chances. Marcum’s start is the worst for a Mets pitcher since Anthony Young lost his first 13 decisions in 1993 on the way to a 1-16 record. The only other pitcher in New York history to begin a season with as many as nine consecutive losses was Bob Miller, who started 0-12 in 1962 before winning his final decision with the woeful expansion Mets. “It’s been a three-month ordeal for me,” Marcum said. NOTES: Young started in center field and led off for the Mets, less than 24 hours after being acquired from the Colorado Rockies. He singled on the second pitch of the game and finished 1-for-4. ... B.J. Upton had two hits and a walk. ... The Mets placed RHP Scott Atchison back on the disabled list after he injured his right groin while warming up for an appearance Tuesday night. He had just come off the DL for an ailing elbow, but didn’t even make an actual pitch before getting hurt again.

FLOWERY BRANCH — Steven Jackson is still trying to feel his way through his first offseason with the Atlanta Falcons. The NFL’s active career-leading rusher has been reporting to work early and staying late so he can make a good impression on his new team. There’s a lot to learn for Jackson, who left St. Louis after nine seasons to sign a three-year, $12 million contract with Atlanta. Jackson says he signed a three-year contract with Atlanta three months ago because the Falcons — with quarterback Matt Ryan, tight end Tony Gonzalez and the wideout tandem of Roddy White and Julio Jones — offer him a legitimate chance to win a Super Bowl. “I just think that this offense has so many weapons that I’m going to get quality carries,” Jackson said at mini-camp this week. “I’m going to have opportunities that may not be 25 carries a game, but it will be quality touches and allow me to close out a game.” Closing out games has haunted the Falcons’ running game over the last two years. One glaring example came against New Orleans in November 2011, when Michael Turner was stopped for no gain on fourth-and-1 in overtime. The Saints needed just three snaps to kick a field goal and leave Atlanta with a victory that helped them win the NFC South. Five months ago at the Georgia Dome, the stakes were higher and the anguish greater when the Falcons failed to protect a second-half lead in the NFC championship game. Atlanta finished 10 yards shy of a touchdown and a trip to the Super Bowl, failing to score against San Francisco in the final two quarters. Jackson doesn’t believe the Falcons will struggle this year to control the clock late in games or to convert short-yardage situations. Though he stops short of promising to change Atlanta’s fortune single-handedly, Jackson sees potential for vast improvement. “I’m not really quite sure what was happening in the years previous, but these are runs where you have to keep churning your legs, (make the right) read and trust your offensive line to get the job done,” he said. “If it pops (for a big gain), that’s great, but most importantly, it’s to move the chains.” Jackson has been through 12 practices with the Falcons, most recently in this week’s mandatory mini-camp. He will make his debut in full pads when the team opens training camp late next month, at which point Jackson can start to gauge how Atlanta will attack short-yardage situations on the ground. “Right now, short yardage is something we’re definitely going to pay extra attention to and especially goal line as well,” Jackson said. “Once I get a feel for how guys (on the offensive line) are going to pull and who tends to kick out a little wider in pass protection, those are real technical things that you just can’t get a feel for until you put the pads on.” At 6-foot-2, 240 pounds, Jackson already seems to run more explosively in practice than did Turner, who had two surgeries last offseason and was slowed by an assortment of minor injuries. Turner was released in February after making two Pro Bowls in five seasons with Atlanta. Turner is 11 inches shorter, is listed 7 pounds heavier and is more compact, so Falcons offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter wants to tailor Jackson’s role to better suit his size. “Coach Koetter is still going to allow me to be a downhill runner, catch the ball out of the backfield and most importantly protect Matt,” Jackson said. He believes Koetter and Ryan will be delighted with his versatility. “We’re definitely going to have opportunities,” Jackson said. “If teams decide to (cover White and Jones one-on-one) or use cover-2 in the red zone, it allows for a lot of underneath receptions for myself to make a guy miss in the open field and hopefully get into the end zone.” Falcons head coach Mike Smith likes what he’s seen so far from his new star running back. “When he gets his shoulders going north and south, he’s tough guy to tackle,” Smith said. “And we plan hopefully to get him in space quite a bit catching the ball out of the backfield.”