The Atlanta Braves took two of three games from the Kansas City Royals to open the 2026 MLB season.
There are few teams in Major League Baseball more puzzling than the Atlanta Braves. Despite being a perennial contender in the National League, the buzz around this team has been one of concern, and in some cases downright panic.
The combination of their disappointing 2025 season with the significant injuries suffered by key players during Spring Training, led many to question whether the Braves had done enough to ensure 2026 would return the franchise to postseason success.
General Manager Alex Anthopoulos, who has been consistently questioned about spending and roster construction, went into the offseason looking to retool his roster without making any attempts to break the bank.
Despite the sense of anxiety surrounding the lack of moves being made to address the starting rotation, Atlanta’s opening weekend series against the Kansas City Royals can only be considered a success.
Game one was a complete team effort, a 6-0 victory that saw the offense compile 11 hits en route to six runs on the night. Ace Chris Sale went six scoreless before handing it to the bullpen, who successfully completed the complete game shutout.
Game two was full of fireworks, both by the Braves offense and from the radar gun when Reynaldo Lopez took the mound. His fastball velocity had been down all spring training, but on Saturday night he looked like the pitcher who was named an All Star in 2024.
Reynaldo’s fastball sat in the mid-nineties his entire start, topping out at 97mph as he scattered three hits and one earned run over six innings. Despite another strong start from their starting rotation, Atlanta found themselves trailing 2-0 heading into the bottom of the ninth.
Newcomer Mike Yastrzemski, who had a great spring training and figures to be a key piece against right handed pitchers this season, kicked off the comeback with a base hit that scored the Braves first run of the game with one out in the 9th.
Two batters later, another new addition stepped to the plate with an opportunity to contribute early, this time being designated hitter Dominic Smith. Smith’s signing was another AA move that was questioned, but after the 162-game suspension of outfielder Jurickson Profar there were suddenly at-bats available for the veteran Smith.
With the bases loaded, Dominic ended it all with one swing, sending the 3-2 pitch from Royals reliever Carlos Estévez into The Chop House for a walkoff grand slam. Per Braves PR, this was the first walk off grand slam for Atlanta since May 20, 2010 when Brooks Conrad hit one versus the Cincinnati Reds.
Atlanta went into the closeout game of this series looking to capture a sweep, but unfortunately the Royals, and mother nature, had other plans. Grant Holmes retired the first nine batters he faced before eventually giving up three earned runs over five innings pitched, and despite collecting the six hardest hit balls in the game Sunday, the Braves were only able to collect one hit on the six. The balls hit by Ronald Acuna Jr and Michael Harris II would have been no doubt homers just about any other day at this ballpark.
Despite the loss, the Braves left the Opening Weekend series with their heads held high. New Braves Manager Walt Weiss made it clear in his postgame presser that this early in the season, all he can ask his ball club to stack series victory one at a time.
“Win the series, that’s the goal,” said Weiss. “Win series and stack those series wins on top of each other, so good way to start.”