SAN DIEGO – In baseball, you often can connect the dots between sequences in a game and the outcomes they produce. One moment might lead to another.
On Friday, the important juncture came when a rookie pitcher did not let an inning get away from him, and in turn kept his offense in the game so it could hang a crooked number.
Behind a four-run fifth inning, the Braves beat the Padres, 6-1, on Friday at Petco Park. Atlanta has won five of its past seven games.
Five observations:
1. Spencer Schwellenbach gave up a hard-hit, run-scoring double to Manny Machado, who stood at second with no outs in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Padres had hit consecutive doubles to begin the frame. Schwellenbach got back on the mound and readied for the next hitter.
“I was kind of just telling myself to reset,” Schwellenbach said. “I had made a bad pitch and can’t get it back, so just kind of start off with some strikes and get the next guy.”
His response became the latest example of why he has stuck in the majors.
With a run already in, Schwellenbach got the first out on a pop up into foul territory. He then recorded a flyout and a strikeout to strand Machado at second.
The Padres could’ve added onto their lead. Instead, Schwellenbach limited the damage and kept the Braves in the game so they could put together their four-run fifth.
In a few starts this season, Schwellenbach has been undone by a big inning. On Friday, he avoided it.
“A month ago, I could’ve went south, could’ve let up a couple more hits and a couple more runs, but I just kind of stayed composed and threw strikes, and got weak contact,” Schwellenbach said.
Schwellenbach threw a career-high seven innings. He allowed only that one run.
After the third inning, he went into the dugout confused about why the Padres weren’t whiffing on some of his pitches or even swinging at them. In that moment, he told himself not to search for strikeouts and instead pitch for weak contact. He then primarily used his cutter and sinker, and his off-speed pitches worked off of those.
The fourth inning represented a lot of progress because he didn’t spiral.
“It shows how far he’s come and I think he’s figured things out and learned about himself,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “So that’s pretty impressive, what he did. That’s a really, really good lineup too. And they don’t strike out. That’s a great job.”
2. Scoreless through the first four innings against Padres starter Matt Waldron, the Braves erupted in the fifth. With two bombs, they quieted a large crowd.
To lead off the inning, Marcell Ozuna launched a 413-foot blast to left-center field that left the bat at 110.6 mph.
Later in the inning, Orlando Arcia deposited a two-run shot into the left-center field seats. It traveled an estimated 401 feet.
In between those, Travis d’Arnaud drove in a run with a single.
The Braves, down a run before that, led by three after their four-run inning. Another encouraging aspect: Ozuna and Arcia both punished middle-middle sweepers, a good sign for an offense that wasn’t taking advantage of mistake pitches earlier this season.
Ozuna’s homer set a record. It gave him 76 RBIs before the All-Star break – more than any other player in Atlanta franchise history, which dates to 1966. Ozuna then tallied his 77th RBI with a ninth-inning homer.
In a start at Truist Park in May, Waldron, a knuckleballer, fanned a career-high 10 batters and allowed one run over 5 2/3 innings as the Padres beat the Braves by two runs.
This time, Atlanta figured out Waldron.
3. In that fifth inning, with Adam Duvall at second base, Eddie Rosario … laid down a bunt! It rolled up the first-base line. Rosario made an out, but moved Duvall to third, where the Braves had a chance to score him with one out.
Before this, the Braves had only one sacrifice bunt this season – tied with Detroit for the fewest in the majors. They now have two, which matches their total from a season ago, when they had the fewest in the big leagues.
By bunting, Rosario gave the Braves two opportunities to score Duvall from third base. This was particularly advantageous versus Waldron, who only struck out two batters over seven innings.
With the infield in, d’Arnaud laced a single past the second baseman to bring in Duvall.
“It’s good,” Snitker said of Rosario’s idea to bunt. “That’s just playing the game. It’s playing the game. If you don’t feel good about maybe pulling that (pitch) in that situation, that’s a good heads-up play by Eddie.”
4. Entering this series, the Braves’ bullpen ranked second in baseball, and first in the National League, with a 2.93 ERA. Atlanta was the only team in the majors that hadn’t yet surrendered 100 runs in relief.
The Padres, on the other hand, came in batting .259 against opposing relievers this season – the best average in the sport. Their .726 OPS versus opposing relief corps was the sixth-best mark in the majors.
How would these trends hold up?
After Schwellenbach’s seven innings, Joe Jiménez pitched a scoreless eighth and stranded a runner in doing so. Dylan Lee tossed a scoreless ninth.
In front of a crowd of 44,390, the Braves’ bullpen ensured this game didn’t become interesting.
5. Arcia has struggled a lot this season. After a career year in 2023, he’s slumped in this first half.
On Friday, he finally saw results with the fifth-inning homer.
“Yeah, I feel like that’s sort of what I’ve been saying over and over, is when things aren’t going well, you just gotta keep working hard until they eventually start going your way,” Arcia said through interpreter Franco García. “Fortunately, today was that day where we had some success.”
Perhaps this home run will help his confidence.
“Yeah, but you know, regardless, like I’ve always said, I’m just gonna take the field and give my best effort and do whatever I can to help the team win, whether it’s with the bat or with the defense,” Arcia said.
Stat to know
29 - The Braves have hit multiple home runs in 29 of their 93 games. After Friday, they are 20-9 in these contests.
Quotable
“Ah man, I couldn’t be happier. That’s some good company right there, too, the guys that he passed. I’m very proud of him and happy for him for everything he accomplishes.” -- Snitker on Ozuna’s record
Up next
On Saturday, Reynaldo López will face right-hander Dylan Cease and the Padres. The game begins at 7:15 p.m.
About the Author
