Braves Grant Holmes Reveals How Padres Surprised Him in 7-1 Victory

Grant Holmes gave the Atlanta Braves another strong start in Saturday's 7-1 win over the San Diego Padres. He delivered seven innings of one-run ball, allowing six hits and a walk while striking out six.

Holmes got into some trouble in the first and third inning, allowing his lone run in the latter inning, before settling in. He said after the game that the Padres bats caught him off guard swinging early in the count.

"The last couple games, they had been selective with pitches down in the zone," Holmes said. "It kinda surprised me. I threw eight pitches in the first inning."

When pitching to a contact-heavy team like the Padres, Holmes said the key it to keep them off balance and mix pitches well.

"It's one of those teams where I feel like you can balance your speed and change speeds, location, you have a pretty good chance."

Given he was able to adjust shows Holmes' capabilities as a starter. The mismatch from what was expected didn't throw him off for long and he got to work.

The 29-year-old righty continues his surprise run as a starter in the Braves rotation. In nine starts, he has a 4.09 ERA in 50 2/3 innings pitched. He has a 3.42 ERA in May and has pitched into the sixth inning in his last seven starts.

He's long exceeded any expectations set for him, even after succeeding as a spot starter last season.

"You just look at what he's done, holy cow," Braves manager Brian Snitker said. "He didn't know going into Spring Training. He did such a good job for us in different situations - won the biggest game of the year last year for us...I can hand it to him. He's made adjustments in his delivery and things like that. The pitches you see. It's been awesome."

That game Snitker alluded to was the do-or-die final game of the regular season. In the bottom half of the hurricane-rescheduled doubleheader against the New York Mets, Holmes came in after Chris Sale went down with back spasms. It was as last second of a start as it can get, and he delivered. He pitched four-plus scoreless innings en route to a Braves 3-0 win that clinched them a spot in the postseason.

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