ATLANTA — Some Atlanta music royalty was on hand Saturday to give the Braves some good luck before they played the Dodgers -- and they certainly had the intended effect.
Usher was in the building to throw out the first pitch, putting a little flair on the process.
The 8-time Grammy winner and Super Bowl halftime performer got to the mound, turned his hat backwards, gave his necklace a spin and then did a high-kick windup to deliver the first pitch to Max Fried (who is, usually, on the mound himself) behind home plate.
You can watch that video above this story.
Also part of the festivities was Jermaine Dupri, who made the "play ball" call before the game began. You can see that below.
The Braves went on to cruise past the Los Angeles Dodgers, winning 10-1. The victory helped them draw back even with the Mets for the third and final NL Wild Card spot, as New York fell to the Phillies on Saturday night.
The Mets and Braves are battling down to the wire for the final spot in the playoffs with 14 games left to go -- though they also both could get in, as they're only one game back of the Arizona Diamondbacks and 2 1/2 back of the San Diego Padres.