The R-Braves are back where they started — owning a 0-0 record, and a clean slate. Tonight, the Braves open their second-half schedule when they host Charleston at 7 p.m. The Braves were in contention for the Southern Division’s first-half title until a late skid sunk their chances. They finished with a 36-33 record in the first half, seven games behind first-place Savannah, and stumbled into the All-Star break on a four-game losing streak. SAL ALL-STAR GAME RECAP The South Atlantic League All-Star Game was played Tuesday night in Lakewood, N.J., at the home of the Lakewood BlueClaws. The Northern Division stars came away with a 2-1 victory in the contest, which was shortened to seven innings on a rainy night at FirstEnergy Park. The game was delayed by weather for two hours and 51 minutes. The Rome Braves had four representatives on the Southern Division roster, and three of the Rome players — Levi Hyams, Josh Elander and Eric Garcia — were in the starting lineup. Hyams, who batted second in the lineup and played second base, connected for a solo homer in the first inning, and finished 1-for-2. Elander, who leads the Rome club in homers (11) and RBIs (59), played left field and went 0-for-1 with a walk and a strikeout. Garcia, playing third base, went 0-for-3. Rome’s fourth representative, relief pitcher Shae Simmons, worked two-thirds of an inning, allowing no runs and one hit with no walks or strikeouts. He was one of 19 pitchers used in the game, including 10 by the Southern squad. Simmons leads the league in saves with 18.

ATLANTA — Chris Johnson broke a long home run drought Wednesday night, and his blast helped Kris Medlen’s miscue in the field become just a footnote on the game. Medlen shook off a Little League-like mistake with seven strong innings and Johnson provided support with a three-run homer that helped the Braves bounce back from Tuesday’s doubleheader sweep by beating the Mets, 5-3. 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. After the game, Medlen (4-7) issued a blanket apology to every coach he’s ever had. At least he could laugh about an inexplicable defensive blunder. With a 3-0 lead, 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. Manager Fredi Gonzalez was surprised 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.” Shaun 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. 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.

MIAMI — Game 7s do more than settle championships. They define legacies. No matter what happens tonight, LeBron James and the Miami Heat, and Tim Duncan’s San Antonio Spurs have already won NBA titles and secured a place in history. Now is their opportunity to elevate it. The truly memorable teams won the hard way, and that will be the case for the one celebrating at center court this time. It’s either a Heat repeat, possible only after James led them back from what seemed certain elimination in the closing seconds of Game 6, or the Spurs shaking off as gut-wrenching a loss as a team can have to become just the fourth club to win a Game 7 of the NBA Finals on the road. “As a competitor you love it, because you know you have an opportunity and it’s up to you,” Heat guard Ray Allen said. “We have a chance in our building to make something great. All of our legacies are tied to this moment, this game. It’s something our kids will be able to talk about that they were a part of. Forever will remember these moments, so we want to not live and have any regrets.” Allen played in the game the last time the NBA’s season went down to the very last day, the Boston Celtics fading at the finish and falling 83-79 to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2010. That made home teams 14-3 in finals Game 7s, with no road team winning since Washington beat Seattle in 1978. Overcoming those odds, not to mention the NBA’s winningest team, would make this more memorable than the Spurs’ previous four titles, though this is a franchise that never dwells too much on the past or looks too far into the future. All that matters is now. “You know what, it’s all about just winning the title. It’s not about situation or what has led up to it,” Duncan said. “It’s a great story for everybody else, but we’re here for one reason, one reason only: It’s to try to win this game (Thursday). We have had a very good season thus far, and I think we just want to get to the game more than anything. We just want to see what happens and be able to leave everything out there.” The teams trudged back to the arena Wednesday, some 12 hours after the Heat pulled out a 103-100 overtime victory in Game 6 to even the series. The Spurs, five points ahead with 28 seconds left in regulation, had to fight off fatigue and heartbreak, insisting neither would linger into Thursday. By far the best game of this series, Game 6 immediately took its place among the best finishes in finals history, with everything from James’ triple-double to Allen’s tying 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds left in regulation. It had close calls, debatable decisions, and the NBA’s best player at his very best when his team needed him most. Games 2-5 in the series had been ugly, but that one was a beauty. “I think — I know — that game will go down as one of the best finals games that’s been seen,” Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. “But I think this series will go down as being one of the most competitive, bizarre series that’s been seen. So this is what you pay for to watch. You pay to watch two great teams battle to the very, very end, and that’s what we’ll do (Thursday). It will be to the very last second.” The Heat could become the NBA’s first repeat champions since the Lakers in 2010. James and Chris Bosh moved to Miami to join Wade a few weeks later and they are in the finals for the third time in three chances. But playing for titles is more expected than celebrated now in Miami, and a 66-win season that included a 27-game winning streak — and perhaps the whole Big Three era — goes down as a failure if the Heat fall Thursday. Yet James said he doesn’t need the victory to validate his decision to take his talents to South Beach. “I mean, I need it because I want it and I only came here — my only goal is to win championships,” he said. “I said it, this is what I came here for. This is what I wanted to be a part of this team for.” He, Wade and Bosh are going for No. 2, while San Antonio is getting a second shot at what would be a fourth together for Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. All their years together have given the Spurs’ trio the belief they can bounce back from Tuesday’s collapse. The team went to dinner after the game, Duncan figuring that was better than guys sitting alone with their thoughts in their rooms. Parker and Boris Diaw discussed a similar situation with the French national team in the 2005 European championships, when they blew a late lead against Greece in the semifinals but then came back to beat Spain for the bronze medal. “We just have to be positive and forget Game 6,” Parker said. “It was a great opportunity, but that’s life. It’s basketball and everybody will be ready.” So will James, who was planning a relaxing night with family and friends Wednesday. He has the most at stake in the game, and when it’s over he’ll be either a two-time NBA Finals MVP or a two-time loser in a Heat uniform. “I want to go down as one of the greatest. I want our team to go down as one of the greatest teams. And we have an opportunity to do that,” James said. “Hasn’t been many teams to win back-to-back championships. It’s so hard. It’s the hardest thing. I said last year it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, winning my first. Last year don’t even come close to what we’ve gone through in this postseason and in these finals. “So I’ll be there (Thursday) night. I’m going to give it my all.” The Spurs have never lost in the finals, but they’ve never faced a situation quite like this. They won a Game 7 for the 2005 championship, but that victory over Detroit was at home. The last five finals that went the distance all went to the home team. “I don’t really care what it’s been like for anybody else at any time,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “All I know is we have ... an opportunity to win a championship. That’s all that matters.”