MILWAUKEE -- Grant Holmes walked off the American Family Field mound after the bottom of the fifth Tuesday night, having just made quick work of the top of the Brewers’ order.
Atlanta’s starting right-hander struck out Milwaukee hitters Brice Turang, Jackson Chourio and William Contreras in a row, all swinging. He didn’t throw a single ball in 10 pitches, with Turang’s 0-2 foul being the one that kept Holmes from an Immaculate Inning. It was certainly among the best (if not the best) single innings Braves manager Brian Snitker has seen from the 29-year-old.
“Yeah, absolutely,” Snitker said. “That was really, really good.”
Unfortunately, enough damage was done to Holmes outside of that frame. A two-run home run from Chourio in the third had already given the Brewers the lead, and then Milwaukee designated hitter Jake Bauers led off the sixth with a home run. That was enough to spoil Holmes’ return to the ballpark in which he made his first career start, ending in a 4-1 Atlanta loss.
“I gave up those home runs,” said Holmes, who allowed three runs across 5 1/3 innings. “That drives me crazy, especially the second one [to Bauers]. Got behind 2-0 and I had to throw a strike, and he put a good swing on it.”
There seemed to be times, including in that fifth inning, where Holmes’ stuff was working.
He got plenty of swing and miss on his three most-thrown pitches of the night, with high whiff rates on his four-seamer (43.8 percent), slider (53.8 percent) and curveball (60 percent). Those three pitches combined accounted for 94 of his 100 offerings, and they helped him post an overall 47.6 percent whiff rate -- the second-highest single-game mark of his career (min. 20 swings).
Holmes recorded nine strikeouts (against 23 batters faced), tying his career high. Coming into the game in the 55th percentile in whiff rate (25.7 percent, per Statcast) and 65th percentile in strikeout rate (24.3 percent), his marks Tuesday were very strong.
But Snitker did note fastball command issues in the early innings. Holmes wasn’t consistently landing it for a strike. That played a part in some traffic he managed to escape before Chourio’s third-inning home run put two Brewers runs on the board. The next batter, Contreras, doubled off a four-seamer with a sharp line drive to center field.
“Probably just being a little too quick,” Holmes said, “trying to do too much instead of just going out there and letting my stuff do its thing. It was frustrating.”
Holmes was able to lock back in, striking out the next two batters to end the frame. That began a run of him retiring eight of nine hitters, culminating with that dominant bottom of the fifth.
“Before that point [Chourio’s homer], I felt like I was just throwing. I wasn't pitching,” Holmes said. “I just went out there after that and just tried to hit spots instead of throwing hard, and I feel like it helped me until that last inning. That's what happens when you try to go out there and you try to do too much instead of just letting your stuff do it.”
Bauers’ leadoff homer in the sixth was tough coming out of that stretch, though Chourio’s blast proved to be the difference.
The Braves put just one run on the board against Brewers starter Quinn Priester and a pair of relievers. Ronald Acuña Jr. went 3-for-4, and the bottom third of the order combined to go 4-for-10.
But Atlanta’s 2-6 hitters combined to go just 1-for-20 on the night. As a whole, the lineup went 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left six on base, also striking out 10 times without drawing a walk.
The lack of offense did Holmes no favors, though his only concern was how he performed Tuesday.
“Chourio’s a good hitter, and when you leave it in the zone, he does pretty good things,” Holmes said of the first home run he gave up. “And the second one, that one's all on me. A 2-0 heater right down the middle. That one's on me. … Yeah, those two homers, I lose sleep over those.”