The Braves and Red Sox split the first two games of their weekend series, setting up a decisive finale Sunday at 1:35 p.m. EDT at Truist Park. Boston won Saturday night 3-2 on an eighth-inning homer from Willson Contreras, leaving Atlanta to turn to Grant Holmes and Austin Riley, who is hitting cleanup again.
Holmes is 2-1 with a 4.35 ERA and was skipped once through the rotation before returning on regular rest for the series finale. He has 34 strikeouts and 21 walks in 41 1/3 innings this season, and has allowed more than three runs in only one start. In his last outing Tuesday against the Cubs, Holmes allowed a homer to Alex Bregman and a bases-loaded walk in the fourth inning before leaving after four innings. He has struck out 13 batters and walked 10 in his last three starts.
The right-hander has seen Boston before. Holmes is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA against the Red Sox, and over his career he has allowed five runs in 11 2/3 innings in those matchups. Last May, he started twice against Boston and took the loss in a 5-1 Braves defeat on May 30. The Braves will need a cleaner outing this time, especially with their offense having not scored more than five runs in a game this week.
Boston is sending Brayan Bello to the mound, though the club had initially expected him to be the bulk pitcher before deciding to have him start the finale. Bello is 2-4 with a 6.46 ERA, but his recent work has been better in relief than in the rotation. In his last two outings, both after an opener, he threw 13 1/3 combined innings and allowed one run on four hits in each appearance while striking out 12 and walking two.
That stretch followed a rough run as a starter. Before those relief appearances, Bello had a 9.12 ERA and a 1-4 record in six starts, allowing 26 runs on 43 hits over 25 2/3 innings. He is 1-1 with a 6.61 ERA in three career starts against Atlanta, a number the Braves will be eager to add to. The matchup also fits the form both clubs have carried into Sunday: Atlanta is 6-1 in rubber matches this season and 4-0 at home, while Boston is 3-5 and has lost its last four.
For Atlanta, the game is about more than momentum. The Braves had lost just one series this season entering the finale, and they can protect that record with another win at home. For Boston, Bello’s start is another test of whether his sharper recent outings can hold up when he is asked to open a game rather than follow one. If Holmes keeps the ball in the park and Riley gives the middle of the order the lift Atlanta has been chasing, the Braves will have the edge in the one game that decides the weekend.
