The Braves finally flipped the RISP script in support of yet another solid Spencer Schwellenbach start in a Wednesday win.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and the Atlanta Braves, desperate for a win, made a rare appearance in their navy road uniforms on Wednesday, and it worked.
Whatever the actual cause, the Atlanta offense finally broke its RISP curse in Wednesday’s 7-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds. With the win, the Braves improved to 82-70 on the year, while the Reds dropped to 74-79. As of the time this recap was published, the New York Mets were up 9-0 on the Washington Nationals, so the Braves would not gain any ground in the NL Wild Card race if that score holds.
Spencer Schwellenbach was effective once again, with Wednesday marking his 10th consecutive start allowing three earned runs or less. He would give up just one run on five hits while walking two and striking out five over 6.0 innings pitched to earn the win. He threw 62 strikes in 94 pitches and touched 97 with his fastball.
Spencer Schwellenbach, 97mph ⛽️ pic.twitter.com/e013YBuwXz
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 18, 2024
The game started off with more of the same from Atlanta—Michael Harris II grounded out on the first pitch he saw, Jorge Soler struck out looking on three pitches, and Marcell Ozuna followed it up with a strikeout of his own to round out an eight-pitch first inning for Reds starter Jakob Junis, who was making just his fifth start of the season. The quick pace would continue in the second and third, as Junis ended the frames having thrown just 26 pitches to record nine consecutive outs.
Schwellenbach’s night started in a markedly less efficient manner, as he got to full counts on multiple batters and walked Tyler Stephenson before a strikeout ended a 24-pitch first inning. After another full count to lead off the second, Schwellenbach started to settle in and was clipping along nicely until Jonathan India sliced the game’s first hit down the right field line for a triple with two outs in the third. Fortunately, Schwellenbach was able to strand India by getting Elly De La Cruz to ground out to Gio Urshela, keeping the game scoreless.
The fourth inning saw the Braves start to drive Junis’ pitch count up, as Harris II and Soler both drew full counts, but a flyout and groundout, respectively, left the inning looking like another wash. But Ozuna broke through for Atlanta’s first hit, a two-out double to left center, and Matt Olson laced an ever-elusive hit with RISP in the form of a single up the middle to put the Braves up 1-0.
On the board #BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/g7zEuUIURI
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) September 18, 2024
The next notable action came in the bottom of the fifth, as Schwellenbach walked Jake Fraley and allowed a single to Noelvi Marte to put two on with one out, but an India grounder turned into a double play to keep the Reds off the board.
The Braves continued to be stumped by Junis in the top of the sixth, and the Reds began to get to Schwellenbach in their half of the frame, as De La Cruz led off with a triple to right field—it might could’ve been a double and an error by Soler, but it was scored a triple—and Schwellenbach hit Stephenson to put runners on the corners with no outs. A clutch strikeout of Spencer Steer turned the momentum a bit, but a perfectly executed sac bunt off the bat of TJ Friedl instead allowed De La Cruz to score. Ty France then singled to keep the frame alive, but Schwellenbach was able to get Santiago Espinal to ground out to keep the game tied 1-1.
Both starters would exit the game after the sixth, and the change to Tony Santillan proved beneficial for the Atlanta offense. First, Ozuna broke his 26-game homerless streak with a 403-foot go-ahead solo shot to center.
Big Bear with a big fly‼️
homer of the season for Marcell Ozuna. pic.twitter.com/erZsGx2k6z
— Bally Sports: Braves (@BravesOnBally) September 19, 2024
Then, what Olson thought was a flyout—to the point where he was unusually visibly emotional—ended up dropping for a base hit, and Ramon Laureano juuuuuust missed a homer and instead settled for a double that put Braves on second and third with no outs. Whit Merrifield struck out, and it began to feel like a familiar RISP story, but Sean Murphy walked to load the bases and keep the frame rolling. Orlando Arcia then struck out, and the familiar story was back on, but Gio Urshela flipped the script and hit a two-run single to score Olson and Laureano and put the Braves up 4-1. Murphy was thrown out at third in the sequence to end the inning, so further damage was limited for the time being.
Gio!#BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/1kfZJnBTJ2
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) September 19, 2024
The offense quickly picked back up, though, as Harris II hit a 405-foot solo homer to lead off the eighth against Justin Wilson, and Eli White, who had entered as a defensive replacement for Soler in the bottom of the seventh, followed it up with a 104 MPH single.
The sound of this Money Mike homer pic.twitter.com/E1YOkIk58i
— Bally Sports: Braves (@BravesOnBally) September 19, 2024
White would score on an Ozuna double, good for the Big Bear’s 100th RBI of the year.
RBI No. for the Big Bear. pic.twitter.com/rW4jsWj5BW
— Bally Sports South (@BallySportsSO) September 19, 2024
The Braves wouldn’t get anything else against Wilson, but they were able to capitalize against his replacement, Casey Legumina. Arcia reached on a Legumina error in the top of the ninth, and Urshela plated his third run of the night to bring the score to 7-1.
Meanwhile, Dylan Lee quickly retired the side in the seventh, and Joe Jiménez had an effective eighth, striking out De La Cruz and Steer, and White made a nice grab to rob Stephenson of extra bases. Aaron Bummer walked Espinal with two outs in the ninth but had an otherwise clean frame to close the door.
The series concludes with a Thursday matinee matchup of Chris Sale and Julian Aguiar. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10PM at Great American Ball Park.