On Saturday evening, the Atlanta Braves won their second straight game to open up the 2026 MLB season with a thrilling home victory over the Kansas City Royals. Things weren't looking great heading into the final inning, with Atlanta trailing 2-0, but the Braves ultimately got the win courtesy of an epic grand slam from newcomer Dominic Smith, winning the game by a score of 6-2.
In fact, Smith made MLB history with the amount of time it took him to make an imprint on his new team.
“Dominic Smith is the first player in MLB history with a walk-off grand slam in his debut with a team!!!” reported Sarah Langs of the MLB on X, formerly Twitter, citing a report from the Elias Sports Bureau.
Smith signed a minor league contract with the Braves earlier this offseason, having bounced around between several teams over the course of his MLB career, including the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants most recently.
While he wasn't necessarily expected to be a huge contributor for Atlanta this season, Saturday's walkoff might change that moving forward.
The Braves will need all of the help that they can get at the beginning of this season as they deal with a brutal case of the injury bug, which recently added another victim when Spencer Strider went down with an oblique injury. Strider is one of multiple starting Braves pitchers, including last year's standout Spencer Schwellenbach, to start this season on the sidelines, so it will be imperative for the Braves' bats to wake up early and often in the opening stretch of the year.
After their series finale vs the Royals on Sunday, the Braves will next hit the field on Monday evening at home vs the Athletics.
