Braves Rebound Behind Schwellenbach's Arm and Acuña's Bat
With a 6–2 victory over the Brewers in Milwaukee tonight, the Braves played stunningly. In a solid eight-inning performance, Atlanta starter Spencer Schwellenbach struck out eight batters and walked none, giving up just two runs on five hits. Ronald Acuña Jr. followed with a two-run blast in the fourth inning to increase the advantage to 5-1, and Michael Harris II opened the scoring with a massive two-run homer in the second inning. In order to keep Atlanta in control, Drake Baldwin and Ozzie Albies each contributed significant RBI hits. Albies also smoothed up the defense, making the game-winning out. With their comeback, they tie the series and give their division rival some leeway.
The Braves would mount a two-out rally in the top of the second, and the Brewers would lament that lost scoring chance. Harris II made the Brewers pay with a two-run homer to right after Chad Patrick struck out Albies to begin the second. It appeared that Patrick would get out of the inning unscathed after Eli White grounded out, but with Acuña on base, Patrick walked Nick Allen, the number nine hitter. Baldwin then singled for an RBI to make it 3-0 after Acuña took advantage of the situation by lining a single to left. The Braves had an early lead, but Patrick ended the inning by striking out Riley. Rhys Hoskins led off the bottom of the second with his tenth home run of the season to left, giving Milwaukee one of those right-backs. After that home run, the Brewers moved swiftly, but they had cut the Atlanta lead.
In the top of the third, Ozuna reached once more with a single, but the inning ended with Albies and Harris striking out. In the bottom of the third inning, however, the Braves took it even easier thanks to groundouts from Jackson Chourio on the first pitch and strikeouts from Eric Haase and Brice Turang. To begin the fourth inning, Sal Frelick made a great catch for the Brewers. Acuña then made a great hit on the first pitch he received and smashed it over the Brewers' bullpen for a two-run homer after Allen lined a single to right. The Braves were ahead 5-1, and it was officially Patrick's worst start as a professional.
Patrick's third walk and 10th base runner of the game came when he walked Matt Olson to start the fifth inning. Albies hit a ball directly at him, which he slapped down and tossed to second in an attempt to initiate a double play, and he may have been out of the inning after striking out Ozuna. It was technically scored as a fielder's choice and a throwing error, but the throw was incorrect, and nobody was hurt. Milwaukee decided to let Patrick try to get out of the two-on, one-out jam with Nick Mears available in the bullpen. He succeeded, striking out Albies and Harris to end the inning.
In the seventh inning, the Braves ended up getting another run. Albies was able to get a single to center field, which then got Riley to score, making the score 6-1 at this point of the game. Looking into the eighth inning, the Brewers were finally able to get another number on the board after not scoring since the second. Haase doubled to left field, getting Frelick to score, making the score now 6-2. Even with this, the Brewers were unable to catch up to the Braves, which caused them to lose this series 1-2.
