Kerr, Holmes give Braves solid blueprint for possible playoff game plan

MIAMI — The Braves’ pregame plan to have Ray Kerr open before starter Grant Holmes took the mound worked pretty well despite a 3-0 loss to the Marlins on Friday at loanDepot Park.

Kerr, a lefty, allowed just two hits — both coming in the first inning — and walked a batter in three scoreless innings before giving way to Holmes. Kerr threw 32 pitches, 23 for strikes, and got three groundball outs, a double-play ball, three flyball outs and a foul out.

“Well, it was a great opportunity for me to show them what I can do, even as a starter or a reliever,” Kerr said. “So, whatever position they put me in, I’m gonna compete at it. I was excited today. I had the little jitters because I didn’t know what to do all day, but other than that, pretty good.

“I got the feel now for it. I know exactly what it kind of takes to be a starter. Leading up to it, I was asking Holmes, ‘So like, when do you go out there? When do you stretch, do all that?’ So he gave me like a little guideline on what to do, and I followed it.”

After Kerr’s outing was complete, Holmes issued a two-out walk in the fourth and walked two more in the fifth but got out of those innings without allowing any runs. He was in trouble in the sixth after back-to-back one-out singles put runners at the corners but got Agustín Ramírez to ground into a 5-4-3 double play.

In the seventh, with one out, Marlins catcher Joe Mack ambushed a first-pitch curveball and launched it 428 feet into the second deck in right field. That was one of eight balls hit at least 99 mph off the bat against Holmes, but the only run the right-hander allowed.

“Every time I go out there, I treat it like it’s life or death. That’s just the way I am,” Holmes said. “I don’t really try to like to work on things out there, particularly. Because I feel like when you start working on things, it starts to go bad. I just like to attack guys. With tonight, my stuff was moving a lot, more than it usually does, so I was having a little bit of trouble commanding it. But got out of some (innings) when I needed to, thankfully.”

Holmes threw 54 pitches Friday, leaving him relatively fresh ahead of next week’s National League Wild Card series, which begins Tuesday at Truist Park against a yet-to-be-determined opponent.

Before Friday, Holmes had made 29 starts this season and only one relief appearance — that came June 27 in San Francisco, where he allowed one hit in four scoreless innings against the Giants. Out of the now 79 MLB games he has pitched in, 22 have been from out of the bullpen.

“Whatever it takes, you know?” Holmes said. “We have the luxury to try things out, and why not? It’s not going to hurt us right now. So why not just you know give it a shot? All hands on deck in the postseason, doesn’t matter your role. I feel like there’s only two guys (starters Chris Sale and Tyler Mahle) on this team that really know their role, and everybody else just fill in when you can.”

Braves’ right-handed reliever Didier Fuentes allowed a run in the eighth on a Jakob Marsee triple and Heriberto Hernández RBI single. Later in the inning, Griffin Conine hit a solo home run to deep left-center, making it 3-0.

Manager Walt Weiss said Friday’s blueprint by no means is what the club will follow in the postseason. But it’s now comforting to know it’s an option.

“(Kerr) and (Holmes) both did a nice job and gave up one run over seven. So yeah, both guys did great,” Weiss said. “I think it’s good to get out there and do it. I was looking forward to seeing (Kerr) in that role, and he did a great job. Just wanted to get a look at it, just in case it becomes an option.”