ATLANTA — The moment Drake Baldwin connected with an outside sweeper from Philadelphia Phillies reliever Brooks Raley in the 11th inning, Ha-Seong Kim took off from first base. The ball reached the gap, and Kim never stopped running as he dove into home plate for the 6-5 walk-off win Friday night.Braves players emerged from the dugout and ran to celebrate with Baldwin in shallow right field. Rightfully so, as the victory increased their lead in the National League East to five games. Meanwhile, Kim remained on his belly before he slowly rose and was greeted by Mauricio Dubón with a big hug.It was an image and a win that mirrored the construction of this Braves roster and how it was able to pay dividends in a playoff-like win leading to the final 14 games of the season.“That’s how your culture can win you games,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “When guys feed off each other … guys don’t want to let each other down. That’s what that room is like: all the guys that contribute to that win. Our strength is in the sum of our parts; it’s not in just a few different players.”
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— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) September 12, 2026In any crucial series, teams are going to rely on their top players. The Braves got plenty of those moments.Matt Olson homered on the third pitch he saw from Phillies starter Aaron Nola, his first since Aug. 26 after coming into the game 3-for-23 over his last seven games. Chris Sale threw seven innings, allowing three runs on three hits and two walks with six strikeouts. Austin Riley clobbered a 434-foot home run to left field that left the bat at 109.8 mph.
