Braves pull off massive pivot, score six in ninth for huge 6-2 walkoff win

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - MARCH 28: Dominic Smith #8 of the Atlanta Braves turns to the dugout after hitting a game-winning grand slam home run as Matt Olson #28 (left), Austin Riley #27, and Mike Yastrzemski #18 celebrate in the ninth inning of a game against the Kansas City Royals at Truist Park on March 28, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Edward M. Pio Roda/Getty Images) | Getty Images We have a game coverage guide here.

It kindly suggests that recaps be started in the sixth or seventh, to make sure they go up in a timely fashion. I never pre-write, due to a very specific game in 2018 against the Orioles (if you know, you know). The tenor of this recap would’ve been very different (and incoherent, a la Spiderman 3 ) had I pre-written anything.

Because, for the first eight innings, I was livid that the Braves were basically the same ol’ lackadaisical, our talent will win out Braves. Well, guess what, Ivan, you dummy, you absolute numbskull? The Braves not only won out in this game after looking not just dead in the water, but “we threw ourselves with our legs encased in cinder blocks into the water,” courtesy of a ginormous ninth-inning rally capped off by, what else?

A walk-off grand slam by Dominic Smith, making his Braves debut. So, I’ll save all the mental and physical mistakes the Braves made in this game for a meaningless coda at the end, and instead, well — let’s revel in the ninth inning first, because it’s the only thing that mattered. After floundering and floundering, the Braves got to work against closer Carlos Estevez from the jump.