03/28/26 09:17:00
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03/28 21:15 CDT Dominic Smith hits walk-off grand slam as Braves rally past
Royals 6-2
Dominic Smith hits walk-off grand slam as Braves rally past Royals 6-2
By BILL TROCCHI
Associated Press
ATLANTA (AP) --- Dominic Smith hit a walk-off grand slam and the Atlanta Braves
stunned the Kansas City Royals with a six-run ninth inning in a 6-2 victory on
Saturday night.
Smith hit a 3-2 pitch from Carlos Estvez (0-1) over the right field wall as
the Braves won for the second straight night.
Osvaldo Bido (1-0) picked up the win in his Braves debut after striking out all
three batters in the ninth inning.
Michael Harris II was 3 for 4 with an RBI, and Mike Yastrzemski was 2 for 4
with an RBI.
The Braves trailed 2-0 entering the ninth, but Yastrzemski and Harris had RBI
singles to tie it before Smith ended it with his home run.
Michael Wacha threw six shutout innings, and Salvador Perez hit a home run for
the Royals.
Wacha was dominant, giving up just three hits and a walk. He twice induced
double-plays and had seven strikeouts. Fifty-seven of his 80 pitches were
strikes.
Vinnie Pasquantino had an RBI, and Jac Caglianone was 2 for 3 for the Royals.
Reynaldo Lpez gave up just three hits and one run in six innings and struck
out three in his return from shoulder surgery that limited him to one start in
2025. There were concerns for Atlanta about Lpez's velocity after his final
spring training start when his fastball averaged just 89.2 mph. Lpez said it
was a question of mechanics, not injury, and he backed that up by averaging his
more typical 94.4 mph on fastballs against the Royals, according to Statcast.
Up next
Braves RHP Grant Holmes will start the series finale against RHP Seth Lugo on
Sunday.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
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