Schwellenbach solid, Acuña stays hot as Braves beat Mets

Schwellenbach is becoming a bonafide ace for the Braves as he continues his streak of dominance. Acuña hit another HR and fuels the Braves offense.

The Atlanta Braves took on the New York Mets looking to beat them for the fourth straight time this season and come one step closer to securing a tie-breaker if it comes down to that scenario at the end of the season.

The Braves faced Paul Blackburn for the second time in a week hoping for similar results. The Braves came out of the gates swinging with Ronald Acuña Jr. leading off the game with a single on the first pitch and then stealing second. Matt Olson was able to move Acuña over on a fly out. Unfortunately, Acuña got fooled on a hard hit ball to second and got thrown out at third and the Braves came away in the first with no score.

Spencer Schwellenbach took the mound for the Braves and looked solid facing the minimum number of hitters. The Braves were after get after Blackburn in the second. Albies was hit by a pitch and then stole second. Sean Murphy then hit a single to put runners on the corners with no outs. Michael Harris then hit a sac fly that almost dropped for a hit that was barely snagged by Soto to score Albies to make the score 1-0. No more offense came as both White and Allen struck out.

Schwellenbach did not slow down in the second, again sitting down all three hitters faced. Surprisingly he did not record a strikeout to this point in the game. The Braves kept the pressure in the third with Acuña hitting a leadoff solo shot to make the score 2-0 followed by an Olson double.

Ozuna then walked and then the runners moved over via a wild pitch. Austin Riley then walked to load the bases with no outs. Albies popped up, but Murphy was able to hit a sacrifice fly to left to make the score 3-0. Unfortunately, Harris lined out to end the top half of the inning.

Schwellenbach recorded his first strikeout in the game when he was able to fool Young, and then got Torrens to ground out. Baty and Lindor had back to back singles, but Schwellenbach was not shaken as he was able to get Nimmo to pop up on a play where Riley made a sliding grab into the tarp.

The fourth inning was the first inning where the Braves did not pose much of a threat. Allen got a single, but there was no other offense to speak of. As probably a shock to few, Schwellenbach sat down all three hitters again. This time it was the heart of the order with Soto, Alonso, and McNeil.

In the fifth after Ozuna struck out, Riley tripled on a ball hit to dead center off the wall.

Albies hit his second pop up of the night. He is third in MLB in pop ups and has the highest rate of his career this season. Murphy was able to draw a walk which spurred a pitching change but that was the only other offense in the inning as Harris grounded out.

Schwellenbach continued dominating this lineup by seeing the minimum number of hitters again. This time he got Taylor to groundout and then struck out both Young and Torrens.

For the first time in the game, the Braves were sat down in order in the sixth, capped by an Acuña strikeout. The Mets finally broke through in the sixth on Schwellenbach. He was able to force a double play after Baty singled, but then he walked Nimmo and then Soto took him deep to make the score 3-2. He recovered and struck out Alonso to end the inning.

Ryan Stanek came in to pitch the seventh for the Mets. It looked like the Braves may score some insurance runs. Olson struck out but then Ozuna walked. Riley struck out but Albies finally did something and singled to put runners on the corners with two outs. Murphy could not come through though, striking out.

Schwellenbach stayed in the game for the seventh and it was the right choice, He forced two pop ups and then ended the inning by getting Young to line out.

Reed Garrett came in to face the bottom of the lineup, and as a shock to likely no one, the Braves bottom of the lineup was sat down in order. Raisel Iglesias came in to pitch the eighth inning. Spencer Schwellenbach ended his night with 7.0 innings where he surrendered two earned runs on four hits, one walk, and four strikeouts.

Iglesias looked like he may pitch like his old self again when he started the inning with two groundouts, but then he gave up back to back singles to Nimmo and Lindor to put runners on the corners. Dylan Lee then came in to replace him to face Juan Soto. Lee came in clutch and struck out Soto on seven pitches to end the inning.

The top of the order was now up in the top of the ninth for the Braves. Edwin Díaz came in to pitch and was able to strike out red hot Acuña. Olson singled on a 100.6 MPH liner, but then Ozuna struck out. Riley came through with a single of his own, but then Albies struck out with two on.

Dylan Lee stayed in the game to pitch the ninth, facing Pete Alonso who was 0-3 up to that point in the game. Alonso was 0-4 on the night because Lee was able to strike him out on a well placed change up. McNeil then grounded out on the first pitch he saw. Tyrone Taylor was then the last hope for the Mets. Lee was able to get him to ground out to second to end the game.

The Braves picked up a win in a one-run game which has been a rarity this season. Another good sign is that the Braves had thirteen baserunners. Over a longer period of time, odds are that will result in more than three runs. The Braves are now 4-0 against the Mets this season and will face them again tomorrow night at 7:10 p.m. EDT.