1 day Ago
Former Saginaw Heritage and Nebraska star Spencer Schwellenbach isn’t the ace for the Atlanta Braves rotation. But he pitched like one Wednesday. Schwellenbach became the stopper for the Braves, ending Atlanta’s three-game losing streak and evening his record at 7-7 in a 7-1 win over Cincinnati.
“He’s been as valuable as anybody,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker told the Associated Press. “I’m glad he got out of the sixth (first and third with two outs). When you get in a close game like that, you never know what’s going to happen.
The guys could rally like we did and get him a win. I thought he was really, really good again tonight.” Schwellenbach allowed five hits and one run in six innings, walking two and striking out five to lower his earned run average to 3.
61. He threw 94 pitches, including 62 strikes. The former Heritage pitcher/shortstop did not pitch in his first season in the Atlanta system and only threw 65 innings in the minors in 2023.
He pitched 45 innings in the minors this season before a promotion to Atlanta, where he’s thrown 109 innings in 19 starts. “These are the games I want to pitch in,” Schwellenbach told the AP. “I have over 150 innings.
I feel like I’ve hit a new wave, I guess.” In his last five starts, the 24-year-old right-hander owns a 2.63 earned run average.
The win, Atlanta’s first against the Reds this season, kept the Braves in the playoff race, two games behind the New York Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks for the final National League wild-card spot. The Reds started Jakob Junis, who allowed just two hits in six innings. “We got really nice pitching from Jakob for sure,” Reds manager David Bell told the AP.
“I think the story of the game was their young pitcher was really tough on us tonight. We couldn’t get much going.” Schwellenbach is expected to make one more regular-season start for the Braves, with his final game lining up against the Mets in a key game with playoff implications.
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