Late homer sinks Braves in 4-2 loss to Orioles

Spencer Schwellenbach turned in a solid performance for the Braves, but the offense let him down once again.

The Atlanta Braves dropped their fifth-straight game Wednesday night with a 4-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. It is the first five-game losing streak for Atlanta since the 2017 season.

Spencer Schwellenbach’s evening got off to a good start. He pitched around a one-out walk to Adley Rutschman in the first and then retired the side in order in the second with the last out coming on a nice defensive play by Ozzie Albies.

Schwellenbach found himself in trouble in the third. Cedric Mullins doubled to start the inning and then moved to third on a bloop single by Jorge Mateo. Mateo stole second before Gunner Henderson grounded out to first. Mullins scored on the play to put the Orioles in front 1-0. Rutschman fell behind 0-2 before sending another grounder to Olson who bounced a throw home past Sean Murphy. Mateo scored and Rutschman ended up at second base. Schwellenbach then lost Ryan Mountcastle on a 3-2 pitch to put runners at first and second. That prompted a visit from pitching coach Rick Kranitz.

The visit paid off as Schwellenbach got Ryan O’Hearn to ground into a double play to end the inning.

Atlanta’s offense came in needing a jump start, but they struggled to get anything going against Cade Povich in the early going. Olson reached to lead off the second after he was hit in the helmet by a fastball, but was left stranded as Povich retired the next three hitters in order. Michael Harris singled with two outs in the third, but Albies grounded out on a nice play at short by Henderson.

The Braves threatened again in the fourth but again were unable to come up with that elusive key hit. Marcell Ozuna began the inning with a single and then moved to second on a single by Olson. Austin Riley went down swinging for the first out. Adam Duvall chased an 0-2 pitch way up in the zone and grounded to third, but beat the relay throw at first to put runners at the corners. However, Sean Murphy grounded out to end the threat.

Schwellenbach returned for the fourth and allowed a single to Anthony Santander on an 0-2 curveball, but got a double play and a pop out to escape with no more damage. He retired the first two hitters quickly in the fifth before Henderson reached on a broken bat double down the left field line. Schwellenbach came back though and struck out Rutschman to leave him stranded.

Atlanta got a couple more base runners in the sixth against Povich. Ozuna reached on a bloop single to right. Olson then hit a sharp line drive that Ramon Urias snagged with a dive and threw in time to second to get the force out. Riley followed with a single to left to put runners at first and second but Duvall popped out to Henderson on the infield for the third out.

Schwellenbach returned for the sixth and worked a quick inning retiring the side in order. The Braves got another baserunner into scoring position in the seventh. Pinch-hitter Jarred Kelenic reached on a fielding error by Mateo at second with one out. Kelenic stole second but Orlando Arcia grounded out for the second out of the inning. Brandon Hyde then went to his bullpen for lefty Keegan Akin who got Harris to fly out for the third out.

Schwellenbach would give way to Jesse Chavez in the seventh. It was a good outing for Schwellenbach who allowed four hits and two runs over six innings. he struck out three while throwing 89 pitches.

Chavez struck out Hays for the first out, but then allowed singles to Urias and Mullins. After a fly out by Mateo, Brian Sntiker brought in Aaron Bummer to face Henderson who grounded out.

The Braves’ struggling offense finally broke through in the eighth. Albies singled to left center to get things started. Ozuna was then called out on strikes on a pitch that never touched the strike zone. Olson would deliver though as he sent his 10th home run of the season out to right to tie the game.

The good feelings didn’t last long though. Joe Jimenez entered in the eighth and struck out Rutschman to begin the inning. Ryan Mountcastle reached on an infield single. Colton Cowser followed with a two-run home run to right center that was just out of the reach of Harris at the wall to put the Orioles back in front 4-2. Craig Kimbrel closed the door in the ninth to end the game.

The loss drops Atlanta to 35-30 for the season. Atlanta managed seven hits, but were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left seven more men on base. Over the first two games of the series, the Braves are 0-for-15 with runners in scoring position and have left 18 men on base.

The series and road trip will conclude Thursday afternoon with Reynaldo López matching up against Cole Irvin.