Braves Flex the Long Ball, Strong Defense to Start 2026 Strong

It may be by default. It would have taken much less to have this season be off to a better start than the last. Regardless, the Atlanta Braves put on a strong showing Friday night to start 2026 on the right foot.

They belted three home runs and put on a strong defensive performance behind opening day starter Chris Sale to pick up a 6-0 win. It took one game to have more wins in their first seven than last year. Humor aside, they'll take it.

For what it's worth, they move to above .500 (13-12) when opening day is at home. They won in a big way in their home opener last season after starting 0-7, and did it again Friday night.

"Last year was kind of on the back of our minds, at least for me, anyways, it was," Chris Sale, who picked up his first win of the season, said after the game. "It was important to get off on the right foot and kind of set the tone right away."

Ozzie Albies got things started in the bottom of the first with a solo home ru n in his first at-bat of the season. For the third straight year, he's been the first to put on in the bleachers for the Braves. Drake Baldwin followed that up with a solo home run in the third, and Michael Harris had the first multi-run home run by a Braves player this year in the bottom of the fifth.

"Look, I know this is one game, but I have a good feeling about our offense and where we're at," manager Walt Weiss said.

Weiss added that during spring training, he felt the team was seeing good at-bats and keeping the line moving. Through one game, that's modestly carried over into the regular season. They went 2-for-7 (.285) with runners in scoring position. It made for a nice complement to the long ball and made for an instant improvement compared to how they handled this specific situation for most of last year.

The goal is to make this Braves offense more well-rounded; more stolen bases and less reliant on the long ball. However, for the first night, that familiar identity most have come to know the Braves for was able to reign supreme. It's not something they're going to scoff at, even if they do manage to reinvent the offense a bit.

Chris Sale delivered six strong, scoreless innings, but it wouldn't have gone as smoothly without some nice plays in the field. Just to name a few, Eli White, Matt Olson, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Austin Riley all put their bodies on the line to keep the Royals off the board.

"Half the top 10 is going to from when I was out there," Sale said. "I mean half the texts I'm getting is like, you better do something for your defense."

Knowing the injury histories that Acuña and Riley had, it likely made for a refreshing sight for many. They're able to go out there and play their best ball. It builds some confidence for what this lineup could be capable of this season at the plate and in the field.

The Braves return to action on Saturday, looking to pick up their first series win of the year. In 2025, that didn't come about until their fourth series of the year. Their first opportunity to win a series didn't come until the series before that. First pitch is set for 7:15 p.m.