ATLANTA -- There was a feel-good aspect to watching Grant Holmes construct one of his best starts against the Dodgers, the organization that selected him in the first round of the MLB Draft 11 years ago. But further proving he can be a valuable piece of the Braves’ injury-depleted rotation was certainly the best product of his latest effort.
There was no reason for Holmes to celebrate when the Braves squandered his strong start in a 2-1 loss to the Dodgers on Friday night at Truist Park. But he had a right to be satisfied after recording a career-high nine strikeouts and limiting one of the game’s top offenses to four hits and two runs over six innings.
“It’s pretty cool being against the team that drafted me,” Holmes said. “It’s pretty special. People say it’s kind of a revenge game. But it’s just us going up there and trying to throw strikes and trying to stay in the game as long as possible. We just didn’t come out on top.”
This was another rough offensive night for the Braves, who have totaled five hits over 18 innings while losing their past two games. They had won nine of their previous 11 before being limited to three hits in Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to the Rockies at Coors Field.
A disappointing performance in an offensive haven was followed by the challenge of facing early-season NL Cy Young Award candidate Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who allowed one hit over six innings and lowered his ERA to 0.90 through seven starts. Yamamoto’s no-hit bid was erased by Austin Riley’s two-out hustle double in the sixth.
Matt Olson’s seventh-inning leadoff homer against former Braves teammate Kirby Yates kept things interesting. But the Braves were unable to reward Holmes, who retired the first 10 batters he faced before allowing consecutive infield singles to Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman with one out in the fourth. Betts’ 94.4 mph liner struck Holmes’ right hamstring and rolled far enough away for the Dodgers’ shortstop to reach safely. Freeman’s ground-ball single hit off the end of a diving Olson’s glove.
“It kind of threw me off a little bit,” Holmes said of the comebacker. “It didn’t really change the outcome of what would happen. But I really wish I could have got to that ball.”
The infield singles preceded a Teoscar Hernández walk and Will Smith’s sacrifice fly. Holmes then retired five straight before Betts gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead with a solo homer in the sixth. The 29-year-old hurler seemed to be heading in the wrong direction when he followed with a walk to Freeman. But he stopped the bleeding with Hernández’s double-play groundout.
Along with minimizing damage in the fourth and regaining his composure in the sixth, Holmes gave the Braves additional confidence about his ability to go through a lineup more than just a couple times. He completed more than five innings in just one of seven starts last year. But he has gone at least 5 2/3 innings in each of his past four starts. This stretch began on April 14, when he went 7 2/3 innings in a road win against the Blue Jays.
“He’s becoming a really good option here,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “This year was the first time he came to camp as a projected starter. You see him making adjustments. That was really impressive tonight.”
Though Holmes didn’t get the desired result, his effort gave the Braves a little more comfort as they attempt to deal with the rotation absences of Spencer Strider, who will likely miss at least a few more weeks with a right hamstring strain, and Reynaldo López, who might not make another start after going arthroscopic right shoulder surgery in April.
Holmes has come a long way since he and current Braves left fielder Alex Verdugo played together for the Dodgers’ Rookie-level team in 2014. Holmes was the team’s hotshot first-round selection that year and Verdugo was taken in the second round. Both have since overcome their share of obstacles.
Holmes spent three years in the Dodgers’ organization before being traded to the A’s, who kept him in the Minors before releasing him during the 2022 season. The South Carolina native signed with the Braves a couple weeks later, but remained in the Minors for nearly two more years before debuting last June, 10 years after being drafted.
“I’d hate to see where we’d be without him,” Snitker said.