Grant Holmes Picks Up Ninth Win as Braves Beat Rockies 6-4: Atlanta Continues Late-Season Surge
The Atlanta Braves are quietly playing themselves back into the postseason picture, and Grant Holmes is a big reason why.
Holmes picked up his ninth win of the season Saturday as Atlanta beat the Colorado Rockies 6-4, with Raisel Iglesias notching his 29th save to close out the victory. The win was Atlanta’s 80th of the year and moved them closer to a Wild Card spot they had been chasing all summer.
Grant Holmes has been a story worth paying attention to.
He was not on any preseason list of Braves starters expected to contribute. He was a fringe rotation guy at best, a swing option who could be moved between the bullpen and the rotation depending on need. Instead he has emerged as one of the more reliable starters in Atlanta’s rotation, giving the Braves the length and the reliability they desperately needed after injuries hit their front-line arms.
Nine wins is not a Cy Young number. But nine wins as a No. 4 or 5 starter on a contender is exactly what the Braves needed from him. Every start where he gives them five or six competitive innings keeps the bullpen fresh and keeps Atlanta in games it might otherwise lose.
Iglesias slamming the door is the other side of this equation.
The Atlanta closer has been dominant all season. Twenty-nine saves is elite production, and it is the reason the Braves have been able to win close games in the second half. Any time Atlanta has a lead in the ninth, Iglesias is going to close it out. That is a huge advantage in a Wild Card race where every one-run game matters.
The Braves entered the year with real expectations after multiple deep postseason runs. Injuries torched them. Ronald Acuna Jr. missed extended time. The rotation lost multiple starters to arm issues. The bullpen was thin. There were long stretches where it looked like Atlanta was going to miss the postseason for the first time in years.
But this team knows how to win. Manager Brian Snitker has been through October playoff pressure enough times to keep the clubhouse locked in through the tough stretches. The veterans, especially Matt Olson and Austin Riley, have refused to let this season slip away.
Now Atlanta has a real chance.
The National League Wild Card race is going to be one of the best storylines of the September stretch run. The Cubs, powered by MVP candidate Pete Crow-Armstrong, are in the mix. The Mets are hanging around. The Diamondbacks are dangerous. The Padres, Giants, and Phillies are all still in the picture.
The Braves have the advantage of veteran experience. When it comes down to a two-week stretch in September where every game is a playoff game, Atlanta has done this before. Their leaders know how to handle it. Their manager knows how to handle it. That matters.
The Rockies, of course, are the Rockies. Colorado has been dealing with another lost season, and playing spoiler for a contender is one of the few sources of enjoyment left in the schedule. The Braves handled them the way a good team should handle a bad team.
Grant Holmes should get a rotation spot next year no matter what happens with the injured starters. He has earned it. Raisel Iglesias should get consideration in the Reliever of the Year conversation. Atlanta is playing meaningful games in late August, which is more than most people expected in July.
The Braves are back in the race. Time to see what they do with it.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
