grant holmes is set to start Friday night as the Atlanta Braves continue a four-game series in Phoenix after a 17-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. First pitch is scheduled for 9: 45 p. m. ET on Friday, April 3, with Atlanta trying to carry momentum deeper into its first West Coast road trip of the 2026 season. The matchup comes one day after Atlanta logged a historic team-wide hitting line, and now turns to the right-hander for Game 2 in the desert.
What’s happening in Phoenix at 9: 45 p. m. ET
The Braves arrive at Friday’s game with early-season energy after Thursday night’s 17-2 result over Arizona. The series is in Phoenix, and the Friday matchup is part of a late-night stretch in the desert. The game is also the first of two straight games in the series set for a national TV broadcast, with Friday’s broadcast on Apple TV.
Atlanta’s latest surge came one day after the club became the first MLB team since 1979 to have 11 players record both a hit and an RBI in the same game. After that offensive outburst, the focus shifts quickly to starting pitching and whether Atlanta can stack another complete performance in Game 2.
Grant Holmes gets the start, with a clear early-season test
grant holmes enters Friday’s assignment following a 2026 debut that did not match the result Atlanta wanted. On Sunday against Kansas City, he allowed three runs on five hits across five innings and took the loss in the Braves’ first defeat of the season.
The start in Phoenix also arrives with recent workload context. Last season, the 30-year-old right-hander filled what was described as a necessary gap on a depleted staff in his first full-time capacity as a major league starter. He logged 115 innings, the fourth-most on the team, with a 3. 99 ERA and a 4. 40 FIP, before an elbow injury sidelined him for the final two months of the 2025 season.
Friday night now becomes a key early checkpoint: Atlanta is rolling offensively after Thursday, but the immediate question is whether the club can pair that surge with steadier results from the starter spot as the road trip begins to take shape.
Diamondbacks counter with Eduardo Rodriguez, fresh off high-profile work
Arizona is scheduled to start left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez. He is in his third season with the Diamondbacks after previous stints with Boston and Detroit. In his season debut against the Dodgers on March 28, Rodriguez allowed one unearned run on four hits over five innings, but did not factor into the decision after Arizona lost a 2-0 lead over the final four innings.
Rodriguez also carries a notable recent moment into Friday’s matchup. He started Venezuela’s 3-2 World Baseball Classic championship game win over the United States on March 17, giving up one hit over 4 1/3 scoreless innings.
In Friday’s lineup spotlight, Rodriguez is set to face Venezuelan teammate Ronald Acuña Jr., who is expected to be at the top of the Braves lineup and is still looking for his first homer of the season.
What’s next as the Braves try to keep rolling
Friday’s 9: 45 p. m. ET first pitch puts Atlanta back under the late-night desert lights with a chance to build on a blowout win and a historic offensive note from earlier in the week. The immediate next development is simple and measurable: whether grant holmes can deliver a sharper outing than his season debut as the Braves push to take control of the four-game set in Phoenix.
