Braves Offense Can't Figure Out Marlins Bullpen in Saturday Night Loss

The Atlanta Braves dropped game three against the Miami Marlins 4-3 in Truist Park on Saturday night.

Here’s what you need to know about from the contest.

Grant Holmes was promising but ran out of gas

The 28-year-old rookie, making just his second career MLB start, battled and was decently effective until the fatigue set in.

Holmes was charged with three runs on seven hits in his 4.2 innings, being lifted for Dylan Lee with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth inning. (Lee induced a groundout to end the inning and strand all three runners).

But outside of a solo shot by Jake Burger in the third inning, Burger's second homer and fourth hit of the series, Holmes was effective early. His first hits allowed were consecutive singles in the second inning, but he got a flyout to end the inning and strand both runners.

The fifth inning is when the fatigue set in. Holmes had gotten his pitch count up to 96 in the minors prior to his early June callup, but has been in the 40-50 pitch range in the majors while working in long relief over the last two months. Once he hit the fifth inning, he recorded two quick outs but then struggled with his stuff. Faced with a slider that wasn't moving as much and a fastball that he struggled to locate, Holmes gave up three consecutive singles and a double that scored two runs for Miami, tying the game at three each.

It was still a successful outing for the curly-haired rookie, but 70 pitches (52 strikes) was a bit less than the team needed and a bit more than the righty was ready for tonight.

Atlanta's offense couldn't figure out the Miami bullpen

The Braves had the number of Marlins starter Kyle Tyler - they knocked him out in less than three innings, tagging him for three runs on five hits and four walks in less than three innings. Marcell Ozuna's one-out homer, his 32nd of the season, was the big hit in the third inning but the Braves sent seven to the plate and scored two runs off of Tyler.

But that was the end of Atlanta's offensive success for the night.

The Braves had just three baserunners in the rest of the game, with Atlanta getting a walk and hit off of now-tenured veteran Declan Cronin in his two innings of work. The rest of Miami's pen, which was jumbled at the trade deadline after four relievers were shipped out, shut down the Braves to the tune of only the one walk and the one hit while striking out six across 5.1 innings. In the ninth, Calvin Faucher gave up a one-out single to Jarred Kelenic but picked up two strikeouts for his second career save (and first since 2022 with the Tampa Bay Rays).

For the game, Braves hitters finished with seven hits (just one for extra bases) and five walks while striking out ten times. Atlanta stranded seven on base and went just two for eight with runners in scoring position.

Miami's bats capitalized on a rare off night for the Atlanta pen

Having tied the game at three in the fifth inning against Grant Holmes, Miami got to work against the Atlanta armbarn. After Dylan Lee closed out the fifth and came back out for the sixth without incident, Miami got three hits, three walks, and the winning run off of the combo of Pierce Johnson (who took his third loss of the season) and Jesse Chavez across the final three innings.

Johnson, a curveball specialist who sometimes throws the bender as much as four out of every five pitches, was undone by his fastball in this one. Miami's leadoff single to catcher Nick Fortes in the seventh came off of a middle-middle fastball. The RBI double to Jesús Sánchez three batters later was also off a fastball, left belt high and on the outer edge of the plate, that Sánchez shot down the left field line and into the corner.

Frustratingly, after a walk, Johnson used the curveball to get a double play and erase the free runner - that's the play that got Fortes to third and allowed him to score on the Sánchez double (although he could have scored from second on the ball into the corner).

It's not a long-term cause for concern - the back-end trio of Pierce Johnson (7th inning), Joe Jimenez (8th), and closer Raisel Iglesias (9th) is a perfect 9-0 when they pitch those three innings in that order - but it illustrates how slim the margin for error is in a close game.

What’s next for the Atlanta Braves?

Atlanta's looking to officially put away the series on Sunday afternoon. As we previously reported , Max Fried (7-5, 3008) is being activated off of the injured list for the start. He'll be squaring off against Edward Cabrera (1-3, 6.65) at 1:35 PM ET on Bally Sports.

Related: Max Fried to Come Off Injured List for Sunday Start