Atlanta Braves pitcher Grant Holmes took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before allowing a one-out single to Andrew Benintendi in Thursday’s 2-0 win over the Chicago White Sox.
Benintendi’s hit was the only one the White Sox managed against four Braves pitchers. Didier Fuentes, Dylan Lee and Raisel Iglesias each followed Holmes with one inning of hitless relief, helping Atlanta to break a three-game losing streak and earn only its second win in the past seven games.
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Otherwise, Holmes allowed baserunners with walks to Colson Montgomery in the second, Drew Romo in the sixth and Miguel Vargas in the seventh. But the White Sox could only get a runner to second base twice in the game, once on a sixth-inning wild pitch to Romo and on Benintendi’s single following the walk to Vargas.
Though Holmes had thrown 94 pitches, Braves manager Walt Weiss said after the game that he was willing to let the right-hander keep pitching as long as he had a no-hitter going, according to 680 The Fan’s Barrett Sallee.
Holmes’ performance was a significant turnaround from his last appearance, during which he allowed 6 runs and 6 hits over 3 2/3 innings in a 10-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Thursday’s game was also a rebound from the last time Holmes faced the White Sox. On June 9, he gave up 3 runs, 4 hits and 2 walks in 3 2/3 frames during a 6-5, 10-inning loss.
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With his one-hit effort, Holmes’ ERA dropped to 3.64 for the season with an 8-5 record and 100 strikeouts in 123 2/3 innings.
Atlanta got all the offense it needed on an RBI double from Austin Riley off Anthony Kay in the third inning that scored Mauricio Dubón. Riley added to the Braves’ lead in the seventh, driving in Michael Harris II with a single. The third baseman finished 2-for-4 with 2 RBi and 2 strikeouts.
Dubón, playing shortstop, batted 3-for-4, giving Atlanta all of its offense from the No. 6 through No. 8 spots in the lineup.
Atlanta’s win improved its record to 75-53 and increased the Braves’ first-place lead in the NL East to five games over the Philadelphia Phillies, who were off on Thursday. The White Sox dropped to 66-61 with the defeat, still holding a 3.5-game lead over the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central.
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Only one no-hitter has been thrown in MLB this season. And that was a combined effort among Houston Astros pitchers Tatsuya Imai, Steven Okert and Alimber Santa in a 9-0 win over the Texas Rangers on May 25.
The Braves’ last no-hitter was on April 8, 1994 when Kent Mercker kept the Los Angeles Dodgers off the board in a 6-0 win. The left-hander finished with 10 strikeouts and 4 walks in 131 pitches.
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