The Mets had no answer for Schwellenbach in New York and they didn’t have many answers for him in Cobb County, either.
Spencer Schwellenbach tossed seven strong innings against the New York Mets for the second time this season. When you combine that with a great plate performance from Michael Harris II in particular, that ended up being the blueprint for a massive 5-1 victory for the Atlanta Braves that will hopefully set the tone for this huge series.
The two divisional foes traded scoreless innings to start off tonight’s game but that changed when the Braves broke through in their half of the third inning. After Spencer Schwellenbach stranded runners on first and second to end the top of the third, the lineup paid him back by getting a rally going. Orlando Arcia’s swinging bunt turned into an infield single that was exacerbated after Luis Severino made a poor decision to try to throw Arcia out. Michael Harris II then got his big night at the plate started with a liner to right that ended with him on second base and Arcia crossing the plate for the first run of the game.
Harris ambushed Severino by swinging on the first pitch and this must have been a strategy on Atlanta’s part since Ozzie Albies swung at the first pitch he saw and bounced it into right field. The grounder bounced slowly enough to where Money Mike was able to score from second and it was now a 2-0 game. Ozzie read the throw to home very well and made it to second and this ended up being big, as he was on third base with two out once Ramón Laureano came to the plate. Laureano was unsuccessful in his first pitch swing but he eventually double-hit one off awkwardly out to right field. It may have looked goofy but we will gladly take goofy if it scores runs for the Braves, which is what this did.
The Braves may have been done scoring in the third inning but they weren’t done for the night. Money Mike decided that he enjoyed hitting that double in the third inning so much that he went a couple of steps further. Harris got every last stitch of a four-seamer from Severino and crushed it opposite field into the seats in left-center to push Atlanta’s lead to 4-1.
If that wasn’t enough, Michael Harris II also decided to remind everybody that he can get it done with the glove as well. Luisangel Acuña blooped one out to shallow center with one out in the fifth inning and instead of Ronald’s brother getting on base with the blooper, Money Mike robbed him with an excellent sliding catch for the second out of the fifth inning. Harris ended up coming within a triple of the cycle tonight, as he absolutely showed up and showed out in this one.
Atlanta’s fifth and final run of the day came when Marcell Ozuna crushed one into the Chop House for a leadoff shot off of Ryne Stanek to push the lead to five runs for the Braves. The Braves were unable to add on after that but this was a very comfortable lead for Atlanta to have in this game.
It was especially comfortable since Spencer Schwellenbach was up to the task of keeping New York quiet in this one. After Schwellenbach shut down the Mets at Citi Field earlier this season, the rookie hurler essentially picked up where he left off and dominated the Mets for the second time this season. New York was only able to muster up three hits and one walk against Schwellenbach on the night, as they were once again in serious trouble when it came to dealing with what the 24-year-old had to offer to them tonight.
The only blemish on Schwellenbach’s line for the night came when Mark Vientos ambushed him with a first pitch swing on a cutter that was right down the middle of the plate. Vientos sent it into the Chop House but all this did for the Mets was ensure that they didn’t get shut out against Schwellenbach again. Other than that, this was another great performance from Schwellenbach — especially coming at this particular moment where the Braves needed this from him the most.
Gimme a Schwell Yeah pic.twitter.com/2lLizOLTX4
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) September 25, 2024
Once Spencer Schwellenbach was finished after seven strong innings, it was essentially academic at that point. Joe Jiménez got the ball for the eighth inning, gave up a leadoff single to Luisangel Acuña and then sat down the Mets in order to snuff out their hopes of getting a rally going. Then it was Raisel Iglesias’ turn in the ninth inning. It might’ve been a non-save chance since the Braves were up four but it was still the no-nonsense, no-drama approach that we’re used to seeing from Iglesias in the ninth inning of games this season. It only took Iglesias five pitches to finish off the lower-middle of New York’s order to end the game and push the Braves to 15 games over .500 for the first time all season.
You couldn’t have asked for a better way for Atlanta to start off this series. They were clearly the better team on the night and there was little-to-no drama about who would win this one. Atlanta has firmly established themselves in this series and the Braves only need just one more win over the next two days (or, considering how the weather looks on Thursday, possibly just tomorrow night) to ensure that the NL Wild Card race will get incredibly interesting heading into the final weekend of the regular season.
It’s fun to think about a sweep as well but the Braves absolutely have to make sure they pick up the win tomorrow night. You have to like their chances considering that they’ll have Chris Sale going but nothing in baseball is guaranteed. Hopefully they’ll be able to get the job done in tomorrow night’s game, which is currently scheduled to start at 7:20 pm E.T.