Today's Three Things: Horton Heard a No-Hitter, But Kim Blasts Back

The Atlanta Braves got their first shortstop home run of 2025 to rally from five no-hit innings by Cade Horton

The Atlanta Braves took down the Chicago Cubs 5-1 in Wrigley Field on Wednesday night to avoid being swept.

Here’s Today’s Three Things from the contest.

The Turning Point

The top of the 7th inning.

Having not picked up a hit through the game’s first six innings, (with five of them coming from Rookie of the Year contender Cade Horton), the Braves rallied to take the lead from Chicago in the frame.

Ozzie Albies opened the inning with a single, advancing to second base on a one-out wild pitch from reliever Ben Brown. After Marcell Ozuna drew a five-pitch walk, swinging at a 1-0 inside curveball but otherwise watching Brown spray pitches nowhere near the strike zone, newly-acquired shortstop Ha-Seong Kim got in the box opposite reliever Drew Pomeranz with two outs and two on base.

And Kim did something that no Braves shortstop has done in 2025 - hit a home run. He got a middle-in fastball and absolutely turned on it, launching it at 108.5 mph to left-center to not only get Atlanta on the board, but give them a lead.

Nacho Alvarez would continue the two-out run scoring, singling in Eli White after he hit an infield single and then stole second base. Ozzie’s eighth-inning solo shot would push the lead to its final 5-1.

Today’s Player of the Game

Bryce Elder.

It’s maddening, I know, but Elder’s now followed up his blowup against the Chicago White Sox (eight runs on nine hits in 4.2 innings) with three consecutive starts, each more impressive than the last. After allowing two runs over six and one run over seven in his last two times out, Elder allowed just one unearned run tonight on four hits across seven innings, striking out six without issuing a single walk.

In his last seven starts, dating back to the beginning of August, Elder’s 2-2 with a 4.06 ERA. All perfectly acceptable numbers…except for maybe how he got to them. Elder has five quality starts, one six-inning outing with a high run total (five earned), and the aforementioned White Sox blowup. If he could just allow three runs over five or six innings every time out, he’d be the platonic ideal of a 5th starter, but the quality of his outings varies from low-end #3 to virtually unplayable.

I did notice that, unlike last time out when Sean Murphy had him stick to predominantly sinker/slider, Elder mixed both fastballs, his slider, and his changeup tonight. Finishing with twelve whiffs and an even 30% CSW, it’s an impressive performance that illustrates why the team keeps going back to the well. It’s like when you have a poor round of golf…until the 17th hole, when you crush your drive, flush an iron on your approach shot, and get an easy putt for birdie. That’s what the Golf Gods do to keep you coming back. Elder’s stars like tonight are the equivalent of that 17th hole.

What You’ll Be Talking About

The resurgence of Ozzie Albies.

Ozhaino hit in the three hole tonight, something virtually unthinkable a month ago. But as he continues to get farther away from the wrist injury, he’s recovered both his consistency and his power stroke.

In his last fifteen games, Ozzie’s hitting .350/.381/.683 with five homers, twelve runs scored, and fifteen RBI. Lest you think this is just a two-week heater, his numbers over the last thirty games are still impressive: .281/.315/.488. On this road trip to Philly and Chicago, he’s hitting .385 with almost as many walks (three) as strikeouts (four).

If Ozzie’s back, combined with Kim opting in for 2026 as the shortstop, Atlanta’s suddenly looking like they have a lot more complete and well-rounded middle infield.

Looking for more discussion about this game?

Here’s tonight’s Postcast, with me and Locked On Braves host Jake Mastroianni, as we went live to break down the win/loss.

What’s Next for the Braves?

Atlanta’s off tomorrow before starting a weekend series versus the Seattle Mariners. Both teams have announced their starters for the series:

Friday: Chris Sale (5-4, 2.45) versus Logan Gilbert (4-6, 3.73)
Saturday: Hurston Waldrep (4-0, 1.01) versus Bryce Miller (4-5, 5.71)
Sunday: Spencer Strider (5-12, 4.97) versus Luis Castillo (8-8, 3.94)