Who doesn’t love a good redemption story?

Tonight, the Home Nine delivered a pair of them, as Ha-Seong Kim and Sean Murphy – two guys who entered this contest a combined .092 (11 for 120) – teamed up in a big way to help Atlanta top the NL-West leading Los Angeles Dodgers for the second straight night, again in dramatic fashion. Kim’s 2-out, pinch-hit, walk-off single off Tanner Scott in the 9th tagged the L.A. reliever with his second loss to Atlanta in 24 hours.

In winning 6-5 tonight, the Braves have now taken 4 of 5 games from the Dodgers in ’26, winning the season series with tomorrow night’s game left. That, of course, gives the Braves the tiebreaker, if they happen to finish with the same record as L.A. And that could be the difference between a first-round bye and a short series vs., say, the Diamondbacks or the Padres. I’ll take the bye, thanks.

The Game: Call me crazy, but I just like Roki Sasaki. I mean, what a cool name for a pitcher. Apparently, he pronounces his name Roe-key, but I prefer Rocky (as in rock-n-roll great Roky Erickson of The 13th Floor Elevators) because it just sounds better. Rocky Sasaki. (Unfortunately for Roki, things really didn’t go his way tonight, as he left the game with a sudden blister on his finger, which will cause him to miss at least one start.)

Like last night, the Braves jumped out quickly. In the 1st, Matt Olson mortally mashed an inside slider, ringing it off the RF foul pole for a solo shot – 1-0 ATL. The Dodgers answered in the 2nd with an RBI single from catcher Hunter Feduccia. They took the lead in the 3rd on a 2-run HR from 2B Tommy Edman – 3-1 LA.

The Braves came back with a big inning in the 4th. After a walk and a steal from Ozzie, Yaz blooped a single to CF & Riley hit an RBI sac fly to make it a one-run game. Sean Murphy then powered a double into the RCF gap – one in, two on, one out.

At that point, Sasaki exited the game with his blister issue, so Dodger skipper Dave Roberts brought in reliever Edgardo Henriquez. Right away, Drake lofted a deep drive to the LF corner. Lucky for Atlanta, Teoscar Hernandez did a Timmy Lupus-on-rollerskates imitation as he overran the fly, the ball ticking his glove & dropping in for a 2-run “double.” Just like that, it’s 4-3 ATL. AJSS held ‘em in the 5th, and Dylan Dodd tossed a goose egg the 6th. (It should be noted that AJSS offered another OK start. He went 5 IP & kept us in the game, so I’ll take that as a good thing.)

Bottom 6th, Murphy officially rose from his coffin – at least I hope so. Coming into the game riding the interstate to the tune of a .136 batting average, he followed up his previous EBH by scorching an ultra-flat cutter from LHP Eric Lauer over the LCF fence – his first HR this season. (And does Murphy ever fly out of his own heels when he swings the bat.) The 6th got further interesting when Drake and Olson worked walks off the lefty. But with 2 outs, Dubón fouled off 9 pitches before flying out to right on the 14th pitch he saw.

Enter Dylan Lee, who might’ve had his very worst outing of the year. On his first pitch, Ohtani lined one off the RF chalk and it bounced off the wall straight to RAJ. Ohtani awkwardly rounded first and, after picking up the ball, RAJ just stopped frozen, looking as if he intended to throw behind Ohtani. Stuck between stations for a moment, Ohtani quickly jetted to second, sliding in easily. Why RAJ didn’t just immediately throw the ball to 2nd is a mystery. Bad start.

Didn’t help because Freddie lined the very next pitch into LF for a single, putting runners on the corners. Betts followed with another & suddenly it’s 5-4. A walk to Muncy loaded ’em up w/ no outs. Exit Dylan Lee.

WW brought in Didier Fuentes, who interestingly started Tommy Edman with a slider & a curve. Unfortunately, he lost him on a 3-2 count – tie game. Just as the inning was starting to swirl overhead like an April tornado cloud, Fuentes slammed the door by getting a shallow F7 from Kyle Tucker and a 4-6-3 DP from Alek Thomas.

The Dodgers rose up again in the 8th by loading the bases with 2 outs on Fuentes, who walked two, one intentionally. After Muncy fouled off a diet of heaters, Fuentes whiffed him on a 3-2 splitter that was out of the zone. It was stout effort from Fuentes who conquered a pair of nerve-wracking situations tonight.

Murphy led off the 8th with an infield single, a swinging bunt that rolled until it hit the 3B bag, completing a 3-for-4 night – he’s up to .188. After pinch-runner Brewer Hicklen took first, Drake banged one off the RF bricks for a double. That’s a 3-for-4 night for Drake, as well… and 2 on with nobody out. Unfortunately, RAJ’s squibber to first didn’t advance anyone & the Dodgers gave Olson a pass to load ’em up. Then, in one of the luckiest double-plays you’ll ever see, SS Mookie Betts booted Dubón’s grounder straight to a waiting Edman at 2B, who relayed to first, ending the inning.

In the 9th, Victor Mederos was indeed magnificent, as he faced the minimum and, after whiffing Alek Thomas to end the inning, he stomped off the mound like a wound-up professional wrestler. As long as you get ’em out, Vic…

In the 9th, Tanner Scott retired the first 2 Braves hitters, then Lane Thomas laced a 2-out double to right. After an IBB to Riley, up stepped one H.S. Kim, a pinch-hitter who was 5 for 76 for the season. Time for redemption? Damn straight…

After fouling off three straight 4-seamers, Kim lined the next one into left field for a single, scoring Thomas and giving the Braves another sweet, satisfying win over the Dodgers. As the Phils won in Seattle earlier, the Braves maintained its 4.5 game lead in the NL East.

Tomorrow night (7:15 pm) offers another righteous mound matchup, as Atlanta sends Chris Sale (12-9, 2.20 ERA) out to battle L.A.’s World Series hero Yoshinobu Yamamoto (12-7, 2.61). Let’s sweep ’em.