ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Baseball can be a fun yet excruciating game. And while it has been an excruciating season for Ha-Seong Kim, his walk-off single to lift the Atlanta Braves to a 6-5 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday was one of those fun — and much-needed — moments.
Kim had not appeared for the Braves since Aug. 15 and had not recorded a hit since June 3. The 30-year-old, who signed a one-year, $20 million contract during the offseason, has struggled while dealing with several injuries this season. He entered Wednesday with five hits in 76 at-bats.
So, when Lane Thomas doubled to right field against Tanner Scott and the Dodgers intentionally walked Austin Riley to get to Kim, it was fair to wonder whether Kim was ready for the moment.
Turns out, he was.
“Definitely grateful, and we really have a great group of guys in that clubhouse,” Kim told reporters on his teammates support via interpreter David Lee. “And of course, in a baseball season, there’s going to be lows, and I feel like this year is showing that for me.”
The win was much-needed for Atlanta, which had lost 10 of its previous 16 games entering Tuesday’s series opener. The Braves now have a chance to sweep the back-to-back World Series champions in Thursday’s series finale, where Braves left-hander Chris Sale is scheduled to face Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
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Matt Olson hit his 37th home run for Atlanta, while Sean Murphy added his first. Tommy Edman homered for Los Angeles and drove in three runs in a back-and-forth matchup between NL division leaders.
Edman’s two-run homer in the third inning gave the Dodgers a 3-1 lead.
The Braves answered in the fourth. Riley hit a sacrifice fly, and Drake Baldwin followed with a two-run double to put Atlanta ahead 4-3. Baldwin finished with three hits.
Murphy’s home run extended the Braves’ lead to 5-3 in the sixth.
The Dodgers tied it in the seventh when Mookie Betts singled to score Shohei Ohtani and Edman drew a bases-loaded walk. After issuing the walk, Didier Fuentes got Kyle Tucker to line out and induced a double-play grounder from Alek Thomas to keep the game tied.
The Braves loaded the bases in the eighth, but Mauricio Dubón grounded into a double play.
Atlanta starter AJ Smith-Shawver allowed three runs on five hits over five innings. Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki allowed four runs on six hits before leaving with a blister with one out in the fourth inning.
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