Grant Holmes Flirts With History in Braves' Dominant Shutout

Grant Holmes had the slider working again, and when that pitch finds its groove, the Atlanta Braves right-hander becomes nearly unhittable. The 30-year-old took a no-hitter deep into Wednesday's game against the Chicago White Sox before settling for a combined one-hit shutout in the Braves' 2-0 victory at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Holmes retired 18 of the first 20 White Sox batters he faced, working through six-plus innings with precision and efficiency. The no-hit bid survived until Andrew Benintendi lined a clean single to left field with no outs in the seventh inning, ending Holmes' historic run at 94 pitches.

"It was nice to have the slider kind of come back there for a little bit," Holmes said after the game. "Went into the game knowing it's working and just trusted it, and it came out on the good side."

The slider proved to be Holmes' weapon of choice, throwing 51 of the breaking balls in his outing. He struck out three batters, walked three, and improved to 8-5 on the season while lowering his ERA to 3.64. The performance marked a strong rebound after allowing six runs in his previous start against Arizona.

Holmes' near-masterpiece came at a critical time for the Braves, who entered the makeup game looking to end a three-game losing streak. The contest, originally scheduled for June 11 before being postponed by rain, brought together two division leaders battling for playoff positioning.

Manager Walt Weiss praised Holmes' execution, noting that opposing teams game-plan specifically for the slider yet still struggle to hit it when properly located. "It just goes to show you if you execute pitches, even if they are sitting on it and you put it in a good spot, it's still tough to hit," Weiss explained.

After Benintendi's single ended the no-hit bid and put two runners on base, Weiss made the call to the bullpen. Didier Fuentes entered and immediately struck out the side, setting the tone for a dominant relief effort. Dylan Lee and Raisel Iglesias each followed with perfect innings, with the trio combining to strike out seven of nine batters faced.

Austin Riley provided all the offense Atlanta needed, delivering two hits and driving in both runs. The Braves jumped ahead early and never looked back, capitalizing on the pitching clinic to snap their skid.

The one-hitter marked only the second single-hit game allowed by Chicago this season. White Sox starter Anthony Kay battled through six-plus innings, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out six, but couldn't match the shutout pitching on the other side.

Holmes, who spent a decade grinding through the minor leagues before making his major league debut with the Braves in June 2024, has never thrown a complete game in the majors. His longest outing came in April 2025 when he went 7 2/3 innings against Toronto.

While Holmes fell short of joining baseball's exclusive no-hitter club, his near-miss highlighted the slider adjustments he made between starts. After reviewing video and tweaking his wrist positioning, the pitch regained its bite just in time to silence one of the league's struggling offenses.

The Braves' victory improved their record to 75-53 and sent a message that their pitching staff remains championship-caliber even when star power takes a back seat to execution. For Holmes, Wednesday's gem proved that sometimes the best pitches are the ones everyone sees coming but no one can touch.