Dansby Swanson and Grant Holmes Faces Cubs Tuesday at Truist Park
dansby swanson gets the Cubs’ side of the matchup, but the sharper rotation note is Grant Holmes returning Tuesday for the Braves after 10 days out. He will start the opener of a three-game series at Truist Park and make his first start since May 1.
Holmes Returns To Truist Park
Holmes last started May 1 against the Rockies, when he allowed six runs, five earned, on seven hits in Denver. The Braves still won 8-6 after he worked through five innings, and Walt Weiss summed up that outing this way: "He stayed in the fight, man," and, "Ends up going five and keeping that game in reach. That’s a great job by (Holmes) after a really tough first (inning)."
Since then, Holmes has not pitched. His rotation spot was skipped last week in Seattle and Los Angeles, and Weiss said he was available in the bullpen in a pinch against the Dodgers.
Braves Rotation Shifts
Holmes enters this turn with a 2-1 record, a 4.34 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP in seven starts. His cleanest outing came April 3 at Arizona, when he threw six one-hit innings and allowed no runs, the only start this season in which he kept an opponent off the board.
The Braves have been using Sale, Strider, Elder and Ritchie as part of a four-man rotation, with Holmes and Martín Pérez working as swingmen and Reynaldo López and Didier Fuentes in long relief. That setup has helped Atlanta’s starters post a 3.03 ERA and hold opponents to a.206 average, both best in baseball.
Ritchie And Sale Follow
JR Ritchie will make his fourth MLB start Wednesday after allowing seven earned runs in 17 1/3 innings. He walked six in five innings on May 4 in Seattle, a 5-4 Braves loss, and said afterward, "Gonna have to go back and look at some video and see what I was doing," and, "There could any number of things. Definitely early on trying to be too fine, not really going after guys as I should."
Chris Sale is scheduled to pitch Thursday in the series finale. He is 6-2 with a 2.20 ERA and has struck out 56 hitters in 49 innings, while the Braves open the series one game ahead of the Cubs for the best record in baseball at 28-13.
