Kim's Hit Helps Braves Deny Rays

Ha-Seong Kim's two-run single capped a three-run eighth as the Braves beat the Rays 3-1 on Thursday night in Atlanta and denied Tampa Bay a chance to clinch a playoff berth. Martín Pérez threw seven scoreless innings, Austin Riley's RBI single after Ozzie Albies' triple gave Atlanta the lead, and Kim's knock turned a tied September race night into a Truist Park roar.

Tampa Bay entered with a four-game AL East lead at 87-59 and would have locked no worse than a wild card with a win plus help elsewhere. Instead the Yankees' wild-card push stayed loud, and the Rays left Georgia still waiting on the champagne.

Eighth-inning breakout

Nick Martinez had held Atlanta to two hits through 6 1/3. Kevin Kelly (6-4) inherited the eighth and watched five straight one-out hits: Albies tripled, Riley singled home the first run, and Kim drove in two more. Didier Fuentes (6-2) worked a scoreless eighth for the win. Raisel Iglesias allowed a Victor Mesa Jr. pinch-hit homer in the ninth, then closed for his 32nd save in 35 chances.

Pérez escaped a bases-loaded first when Chandler Simpson bounced into a double play started by Matt Olson at first, with Drake Baldwin firing back to first to beat the speedy Simpson. That early escape set up seven zeros and gave a cold Braves lineup (three runs across a prior three-game skid) room to wake up late against Tampa Bay's bullpen.

NL East still Atlanta's to hold

The Braves began the day with a three-game NL East lead and now open a huge series against Philadelphia with Sale lined up opposite Nola. For fantasy, Kim and Riley both cash the night. For Rays fans, the clinch party waits at least one more series. Atlanta stole a September game it needed. Tampa Bay walked into a buzzsaw eighth and left with a 3-1 loss instead of a berth stamp.

Atlanta had scored just three runs across a three-game losing streak and dropped the prior two to Tampa Bay by a combined 14-3. Thursday flipped that script without a home-run barrage: contact, a triple, and Kim doing damage with two outs worth of traffic. Mesa's ninth-inning homer made it tense, but Iglesias finished the job.

Braves fans will take the late rally and the denied clinch every time. Kim's two-run single was the dagger. Next up is Philly, with the division still sitting on Atlanta's desk.