Is it a big game against a talented opponent? Then Spencer Schwellenbach will be ready.
This is how it has gone in Schwellenbach’s rookie season. He rises to the occasion.
He did it again in the Braves’ 6-2 win over the Dodgers on Friday at Truist Park.
Five observations:
1. Of course, Schwellenbach wants to succeed against everyone. But starts against great teams? Those mean a bit more.
“I mean, when you go and put up a good outing against the Dodgers or the Phillies, it definitely feels really good, but it’s also the other teams – every outing, I want to get a win for the team,” he said. “But this one feels special.”
He held the Dodgers to two runs over six innings. He gave up only four hits.
Schwellenbach has made eight starts against teams who are in the postseason picture at this moment: Three against the Phillies, one against the Dodgers, one against the Orioles, one against the Padres, one against the Mets and one against the Twins.
In those eight starts, he’s allowed 10 earned runs over 49 innings – a 1.84 ERA.
“And that’s the thing: Nothing seems to bother him,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He keeps the game slowed down, it doesn’t seem to speed up on him – which is, God, awesome.”
2. As the Braves tormented Dodgers starter Landon Knack in the bottom of the second inning, Schwellenbach sat in the dugout.
“I don’t know how long it was in between me throwing the second and the third, but it felt like a long time,” Schwellenbach said, smiling.
He’ll take it.
In that second inning, Atlanta sent nine men to the plate and scored four runs on a pair of two-run home runs – one from Gio Urshela and another from Jorge Soler.
“Good signs, really good signs,” Soler said through interpreter Franco García. “Obviously we’ve had some runs where we haven’t been producing as an offense, and for us to kind of put that together, it’s good, so we just got to keep that going.”
In his 21st game with the team, Urshela hit his first homer in a Braves uniform. Soler, who has heated up over the last few days, hadn’t homered at Truist Park since the Braves acquired him for the second time. It was Soler’s first bomb since Aug. 28 in Minnesota.
In nine big-league starts prior to Friday, Knack had never given up more than four runs.
The Braves got him for five as they jumped out to an early five-run lead over the first two frames.
3. With a single in the bottom of the fourth inning, Marcell Ozuna reached a milestone: 1,500 hits.
“Good for him,” Snitker said. “Those are milestones that, gosh, are hard to achieve. You gotta be doing this for a long time when you start getting into that territory – which makes you appreciate those guys that get 3,000, how long they gotta do it and all, and how hard this game is. That’s really a nice milestone for him.”
Ozuna’s turnaround has been incredible to witness. He was perhaps the worst hitter in baseball through a month last season, then rewrote a terrific comeback story. In 2024, he’s been the Braves’ best hitter.
On Friday, Ozuna said his body is a bit tired. He’s tried to manage that.
How?
“I don’t think too much,” he said. “Don’t think too much. Go out there, get a good pitch to hit. If you miss it, you miss it. That’s all.”
He may not win the triple crown, or even National League MVP, but he collected the 1,500th hit. He’s one of 24 active players to reach this milestone and the 39th Dominican-born player in MLB history to do it.
“It’s a little hard,” Ozuna said. “You have to keep doing this thing a long time in baseball, and thankfully God gave me the opportunity to have success and get that.”
4. The Dodgers have a great lineup, but they’re carried by the guys at the top: Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. Thus, beating them often involves limiting the damage from those three.
The Braves accomplished that in the series opener.
They held that trio to 0-for-11 with three strikeouts and a walk. The walk came from Freeman. Ohtani struck out twice.
“Yeah, I mean, that’s the way to beat them,” Schwellenbach said. “When those guys are rolling, they’re a hard team to beat. And I think we did a really good job with that tonight.”
The Dodgers’ pitching kept them within three runs of the Braves, which gave the offense an opportunity to mount a comeback.
But Atlanta quieted the top of the Dodgers’ lineup, which made the climb significantly more difficult for Los Angeles.
“It’s gonna be huge the next three days,” Snitker said of holding those three in check. “Not many lineups we face that got three Hall of Famers (at) one, two and three.”
5. The Braves are aware of the results each night. How could they not be?
“We’re down into scoreboard-watching territory,” Snitker said. “But you know what, we can only do what we can do.”
And on Friday, the Braves won to remain one game behind the Mets, who beat the Phillies in Philadelphia. Atlanta avoided falling to two games behind New York for the third and final NL wild-card spot.
Stat to know
2.88 - Schwellenbach has a 2.88 ERA since the start of July. The only qualified rookie pitchers with a lower mark are Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes (2.13) and Milwaukee’s Tobias Myers (2.61).
Quotable
“I mean, it’s awesome. Enjoying every moment. This is what I expected of myself. I think when this season is said and done, I’ll be able to look back and see how far I came this year. But right now, I’m just trying to win games, and that’s the only thing that’s on my mind.” - Schwellenbach on experiencing meaningful September baseball after starting the season in High A
Up next
Chris Sale will start Saturday’s game, which begins at 7:20 p.m. Right-hander Jack Flaherty will pitch for the Dodgers.
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