Braves Bats Go Quiet Again as Grant Holmes Shines in Tough Loss to Dodgers

May 2, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Grant Holmes (66) throws against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The Braves returned home from a strong road trip to open a weekend series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. With Grant Holmes and Yoshinobu Yamamoto squaring off, this one had all the makings of a classic pitchers duel and it absolutely lived up to the billing.

You could not have asked for a better start for Atlanta. Holmes struck out the side in the first inning, sending Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman back to the dugout in order. It was electric.

“It was pretty cool,” Holmes said afterward. “I felt like I blacked out a little bit. I was pretty locked in, just trying to make the pitch that Murph called and I did that and it came out in my favor.”

Holmes was coming off a rough outing in Arizona where Eugenio Suárez took him deep multiple times. This time, he looked sharp from the jump.

“The start tonight felt pretty good,” Holmes said. “I feel like I threw a little more strikes tonight. I tinkered with my slider a little, got it to stay on the plate a little bit longer. I feel like it is the best it has been since last year.”

Yamamoto answered with a quick two outs in the bottom half before Marcell Ozuna worked an 11 pitch walk. Matt Olson followed by lining out to Betts to end the inning.

Holmes continued to deal in the second, inducing two groundouts and a lengthy battle with Max Muncy that ended in a strikeout. Yamamoto followed suit with a clean bottom of the second. Early on it was clear this game was going to be all about the arms.

Holmes rolled through the third, striking out Michael Conforto in another one two three frame. But in the fourth, the Dodgers finally broke through. Betts reached on a sharp comebacker that hit Holmes. Freeman followed with an infield single Olson nearly snagged and Hernández drew a walk to load the bases. Will Smith delivered a sac fly to center to give Los Angeles a 1 to 0 lead but Holmes came back to strike out Muncy and limit the damage.

In the bottom of the fourth, Ozuna worked his second walk of the night, showing great patience, but Yamamoto locked back in. He struck out Olson and froze Sean Murphy on a perfectly located fastball to end the threat.

Holmes returned in the fifth and struck out both Conforto and Miguel Rojas after retiring Andy Pages. That brought him to nine strikeouts through five innings, a new career high.

In the sixth, Holmes got Ohtani to ground out but Betts followed with a solo home run to center to make it 2 to 0 Dodgers. Freeman walked, but Hernández grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Still hitless entering the bottom of the sixth, Atlanta needed a jolt. Austin Riley provided a two out double but Ozuna grounded out to Muncy to strand him. It has been that kind of stretch, two games now where the offense just has not shown up.

Holmes returned for the seventh, allowing a single to Will Smith before handing things over to the bullpen. His final line: 6.0 innings, 4 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, and a career best 9 strikeouts.

Braves manager Brian Snitker praised the 29 year old righty postgame.

“Very much so,” Snitker said when asked how impressed he was. “Just in the strike zone. Stuff was really good. It is a shame we could not get him some runs.”

Dylan Lee came on and immediately got a double play from Muncy, then struck out Pages to end the top of the seventh.

In the bottom half, with Yamamoto finally out of the game, Kirby Yates took over. Yamamoto’s final line: 6.0 innings, 1 hit, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts, and a slick ERA of 0.90.

Matt Olson greeted Yates with a leadoff homer to center, cutting the deficit to 2 to 1 and giving the Braves their first sign of life. But that was it. The next three batters went down quietly.

Daysbel Hernández worked around a walk in the eighth and the Braves came up empty again in their half. Then came a ninth inning rain delay. When play resumed, there was no post delay magic. Atlanta fell 2 to 1.

Let’s be clear. This one was not on Grant Holmes. Two runs over six innings with nine strikeouts should be more than enough to win you a game. He was fantastic. The problem is the Braves went just 2 for 29 at the plate. Combine that with the Colorado finale and they are now 5 for 59 over the last two games.

Yes, Yamamoto was as advertised. Snitker gave him full credit postgame.

“He has got a lot of weapons,” Snitker said. “A lot of weapons. He is tough to hit at.”

Still, the job has to get done. The Braves offense has to wake up and stay consistent.

However, I will leave you with a thought. Atlanta’s opponents in the last two games were not much better themselves. They just made an extra play or two that the Braves did not. That is for those of you looking for a bigger picture outlook. Still the fact remains, the offense has to get back and stay on track, and it will.

The Braves and Dodgers return to action Saturday night at 7:15 PM EDT on FOX.