When the Bullpen Blows the Blueprint

Devers topped off Atlanta's Bullpen crumble, with a walk-off home run

On a night where the Atlanta Braves finally showed some early offensive life and Grant Holmes delivered another strong outing, things were set up for a clean, convincing win. Holmes exited after six innings, having allowed just two runs and putting the Braves in control with a 6-2 lead. At that point, it should have been simple. Hand it to the bullpen, shut the door, and enjoy back-to-back wins at Fenway. Instead, the script unraveled in the most frustrating way.

“You know, it's baseball, it happens,” Holmes said postgame. “Nobody's gonna be perfect every time they go out there. We just gotta come to the field the next day and do our best, flush it, and move on to the next day.”

And he’s right, that’s the professional response you expect from a guy trying to hold his spot in the rotation. He’s not going to come out and point fingers. But just because it’s the right thing to say doesn’t mean the situation should be brushed aside. The Braves had this game. Holmes did his part. The offense, which we’ve all begged to show signs of life, finally gave him some cushion.

This wasn’t a 2-1 nailbiter. This was a winnable ballgame, until the bullpen got involved.

Marcell Ozuna is hitting bombs again. Matt Olson seems to have finally snapped out of his power drought with a two-run homer. His second consecutive day hitting one. Drake Baldwin came through again with another home run. The Braves chased Lucas Giolito out after four innings and built a five-run lead at one point. It should have been a win that paired a quality start with one of the better offensive efforts of the month. Instead, it turned into a gut punch.

Aaron Bummer gave up a run and left another in scoring position before Enyel De Los Santos took over. Alex Bregman wasted no time cashing that in with an RBI double that cut the lead to 6-4. Then came the eighth, and that’s where the wheels fell off.

Rafael Montero entered in a spot that already felt risky. He’s had some decent innings in Atlanta, but nothing that screams high-leverage reliability. This wasn’t the time to experiment. The game was already slipping, and Montero hasn’t proven to be a steady hand in those moments. The decision became even more confusing when Pierce Johnson ended up pitching in the eighth anyway. If the goal was to save Johnson for the ninth, that plan went out the window.

“Well, I mean, it's, again, it's a guy that's been throwing pretty good,” Snitker said postgame when asked about Montero. “He's got to make pitches. He’s got to put hitters away with two strikes. We're probably asking him to go out there and put down an inning that we haven’t had him do, maybe once or twice. He's been an eighth-inning guy, so you hope he can go out there and do that.”

But that’s the issue. This wasn’t a night to hope. This was a night where you needed to stop the bleeding and close the door. Montero didn’t. Two more runs crossed, and the Red Sox tied it. The momentum was gone.

Snitker didn’t seem too concerned by it. “Yeah, I mean, you know, we scored some runs and, but you know what? It’s just another game. We go out, win a series tomorrow, the way I look at it. And we turn a page here. I kind of like our chances with Swelly on the mound and, you know, we'll have everybody else back and hopefully we'll score some more runs and win a series.”

And sure, it’s one game in a long season. But this one matters. Because it’s not just one loss, it’s a repeat offense. The bullpen has coughed up leads recently, but tonight was the worst, and unless something changes, it’s going to keep happening.

Atlanta finally did what we’ve all been asking: they scored more than four runs. They backed their starter. And it still wasn’t enough. That’s not just frustrating, that’s inexcusable.