MILWAUKEE – Grant Holmes’ heartwarming, feel-good story reached its highest point on Monday, when he turned in a memorable performance in his first career start.
And with Holmes in line for his first win – in what would’ve been his first decision – the game went off the rails.
The Braves lost to the Brewers, 8-3, in the series opener at American Family Field.
But Braves president of baseball operations and general manager Alex Anthopoulos restored the night by acquiring Jorge Soler and Luke Jackson – two integral pieces from Atlanta’s 2021 World Series team – from the San Francisco Giants.
Five observations:
1. After the game, Holmes mentioned that he was walking out to warm up and saw his dad in the stands, and he didn’t –
He paused right there.
He became emotional.
After about 10 seconds of silence, he said this, through tears: “I didn’t think he was coming. But he did and it meant the world.”
Holmes made his dad, his entire family and his friends proud. He threw five innings of one-run baseball. He struck out eight batters – including seven in the first nine hitters he faced.
If you follow this team, you know about Holmes. He’s contributed a lot since the Braves promoted him.
But this deserves to be acknowledged once again: He spent 10 – 10! – years in the minor leagues before the Braves called him up this season. He said that decade polished him and prepared him for this night.
“Such a special moment,” Holmes said. “I never thought I would ever be starting for the Atlanta Braves, you know? So, here it is and I’m just taking it with everything I can and doing everything I can.”
He grew up a Braves fan in South Carolina. His dad, John Holmes, traveled from that state to see his son make his first career start.
Grant Holmes did something special: Among Braves who have made their first career start within their first 11 appearances, Holmes is the first to pitch at least five innings while allowing one or no runs and striking out eight or more batters since David Hale in 2013.
This outing served as yet another example of how Holmes’ perseverance in the minors has paid off.
“It says about his character, who he is, what he’s about,” Jesse Chavez said. “He’s not in it for anything else but just the love of the game. That’s a unique trait to have for a guy that’s been around in his path. So it’s good, it’s fun. Shoot, I build off of it, you know what I mean? I think everybody in this clubhouse does – listening to that, seeing it and watching him come out there and do his business.”
2. Holmes’ wonderful start is the reason why Chavez felt so bad about giving up a go-ahead, three-run home run to Willy Adames in the sixth inning.
“Oh yeah. It wasn’t fun,” Chavez said. “The shower, rinsing that off, was a tough one to do today. And that’s something that I give myself until then, and that’s when it’s time to turn the page. But watching that outing, watching him do that stuff and then come in and not do what I’m supposed to do, it eats at me a little bit more.”
Braves manager Brian Snitker said he had his mind set on using Chavez after Holmes, regardless of the situation. It seemed unfortunate that Atlanta used Pierce Johnson and A.J. Minter – two of its high-leverage relievers – in Sunday’s blowout of the Mets.
The Braves, to Snitker’s credit, are navigating a tough stretch. Holmes started on Monday, and they figured he might be able to give them five innings – as he did. Reynaldo López left Sunday’s start after three innings, so the bullpen covered a large chunk of the game. Bryce Elder will start Tuesday, and you can’t expect him to go seven innings.
In that sixth inning, Chavez threw Adames an 0-2 cutter inside. Adames didn’t miss it.
“I look at it as, ‘Never a loss, always a lesson,’” Chavez said. “Right pitch, wrong guy. Different situation, might get that out, get a roll-over, maybe a strike three, who knows? Or maybe a pop-up that stays in the park. But you tip your hat, he’s gotta eat too, and just move on to tomorrow.”
3. Soler and Jackson will give Atlanta an immediate boost – if only to the club’s morale. Both helped the Braves win the World Series three years ago.
Right away, Soler can add pop to the lineup. He also might be a leadoff option for Snitker after Jarred Kelenic went 0-for-4 with a strikeout as his struggles continued.
The Braves are battle-tested. They’ve faced adversity.
“We’re in it for each other – not for any other thing but just to get to that final goal of raising that trophy,” Chavez said. “We show up every single day, we take it for what it is on that day and we show up tomorrow. But the fact that we show up every single day for each other, knowing what we have to do, try to put the guys in a better position than we left them yesterday, that’s all we can ask for – preparation and go out there and try and execute it.”
4. This loss became sloppy.
In the seventh inning, Kelenic broke in on a ball hit toward him, but couldn’t run back in time and it went over his head. When he retrieved it, he slipped on the warning track dirt and a run scored.
In the eighth, Ramón Laureano threw the ball in from right field, and Orlando Arcia … let it go. It rolled through the infield, into foul territory and into the dugout. It allowed the runner to advance from first to third. Snitker said that, upon watching a replay, it appeared Arcia believed second baseman Nacho Alvarez Jr. would catch that ball.
Asked if it’s disappointing to see his team in a bit of a sloppy stretch, Snitker said: “I thought we had a couple pretty good ones the last couple of days. I don’t feel like we’re in a sloppy stretch. I mean, that game wasn’t perfect out there today.”
5. An encouraging sign: Arcia homered for the second time in as many games. He’s beginning to swing the bat better.
“He’s playing really good right now and seeing the ball well, so that could be big for us,” Snitker said. “We’ve just come off a good series split (Sunday) and him swinging the bat was a big reason why.”
Stat to know
2 - Holmes is just the second pitcher in the expansion era (since 1961) to record the first seven outs of his first career start via strikeout. (Research courtesy of Elias Sports Bureau)
Quotable
“It’s pretty special. I didn’t know that. But I don’t go out there and try to pitch for records or anything, I just go out there and try to do my best and keep my team in the ballgame.” - Holmes on the stat above
Up next
Tuesday’s game begins at 8:10 p.m.
About the Author
