The Morning Tilt: Thursday, August 27Sweep Weather

Atlanta Braves

Ha-Seong Kim was hitting .066 in August. Hadn't had a plate appearance since August 15. The Dodgers intentionally walked Austin Riley to face him. He singled to left and won the game.

A go-ahead hit and a walk-off in two nights. Two different heroes. Two different kinds of late-inning theater against the hottest team in the National League. And tonight the Braves get the version of this series that will travel furthest: Chris Sale versus Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Two of the NL's lowest ERAs. Three-hundredths of a run separate their expected ERA. A sweep clinches the season series and locks the head-to-head tiebreaker for October.

The Braves have closed to two games behind Los Angeles. The Dodgers have lost two straight after arriving on a six-game win streak. If you're scoring the narrative, Atlanta leads that too.

Atlanta Falcons

Jalon Walker tore his ACL in training camp. Season over.

That deserves its own breath. Walker logged 5.5 sacks and a 10.3% pressure rate as a rookie in 2025 — seventh-most pressures among first-year players. The Falcons' defensive edge just got thinner before Week 1.

The preseason finale is tomorrow at Miami — Tua Tagovailoa's return to Hard Rock Stadium against the team that released him. Penix is ruled out, which means the final audition tape is already cut. Kevin Stefanski has not named a starter, telling reporters he "can't speculate on those types of things" — but the audition tape speaks for itself. The 53-man roster deadline is Sunday at 6 PM. Miles broke down what the competition actually revealed. Dex thinks the locker room already made the call.

Atlanta Hawks

The offseason is done reshaping itself. Jalen Johnson earned All-NBA Third Team and his first All-Star nod — 22.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, 7.9 assists. Lu Dort arrived from Oklahoma City in a three-team trade that cost the No. 1 overall pick, Zaccharie Risacher. What the Hawks bought: a 2024-25 First Team All-Defense selection who finished fourth in that year's DPOY voting. What they sold: developmental upside. Simone mapped the front office's authority to make that call.

The schedule is out. Trae Young's return dates are circled. Quin Snyder, for the record, signed a multi-year extension in June. The runway is longer than it looked.

Atlanta United

Miguel Almiron now owns the club's all-time assist record at 43, passing Brooks Lennon in the win over Sporting Kansas City on Saturday. The three-game winning streak has United three points from the playoff line — nine points earned in nine days after scraping together twelve in the first eighteen matches. Tito chronicled the awakening. Charlotte FC visits Mercedes-Benz Stadium Saturday. A fourth straight win puts them in the playoff zone. Embolo's home debut watch continues.

One more thing. Jalon Walker's season ended before it could start. Ha-Seong Kim's resurrection happened in the last at-bat anyone expected him to get. Same city, same August. The distance between catastrophe and the most improbable hit of the season is about ninety feet and one swing.