CINCINNATI – The Braves had lost three in a row – all in disappointing and frustrating fashion. And at this time of the season, the potential consequence is this: Any slide can effectively end a club’s season.
The Braves are still alive.
They stopped the skid at three games and beat the Reds, 7-1, on Wednesday at Great American Ball Park. They remain two games out of the final wild-card spot.
Five observations:
1. Spencer Schwellenbach is in a rotation with Charlie Morton (who debuted in 2008), Chris Sale (2010), Reynaldo López (2016) and Max Fried (2017). That’s a lot of experience.
Those guys help him with his preparation. They’ve shown him different arm care techniques.
And …
“I mean, those guys come out and watch my bullpens and let me know what they think, which is awesome,” Schwellenbach said. “It’s gonna help me a lot.”
How has it helped? Well, at the moment, it consists of the reminder that this is September and Schwellenbach is in his first major-league season.
“Honestly, it’s making sure I’m not using too much effort,” Schwellenbach said of their feedback for his bullpen sessions. “We’re in September. If I throw more than 15 pitches, Sale kind of gets on my butt.”
Schwellenbach has seemingly learned enough to make it seem like he’s not facing a learning curve. He’s been that good.
He held the Reds to a run over six innings. The Braves needed a win, and he’s a guy on whom they can rely. And the rookie has seen that his stuff plays at this level.
“It feels good,” Schwellenbach said. “It’s what I’ve been working on in my bullpens, making sure everything’s crisp and ready to go for each start. I think I’m up over 150 innings, so I kind of feel like I hit a new wave, I guess. Last month of the season, kind of get an extra gear there.”
Indeed, he is at 154 2/3 innings this season between the minors and majors – by far the most he’s ever thrown in a season in his life.
“We’ve called him in a couple of times (to see how he feels), and he’s convinced everybody,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He’s said, ‘Shoot, I’ve never felt better.’ There’s no signs that he’s slowing down. I think he’s benefited by some of those older teammates that are kind of showing him the in-between stuff, and (teaching him) about it. He’s got some good resources in there to bounce things off of. And I know he’s diligent with his training and everything. I think the sky’s the limit for a guy like that. I see a couple of Gold Gloves in his future.”
2. Before his seventh-inning solo shot, which was a nice response to the Reds tying the game, Marcell Ozuna hadn’t homered in 98 at-bats. He hadn’t left the yard since Aug. 20. He hadn’t driven in a run since Aug. 27.
Perhaps he was putting too much pressure on himself.
“As a human being, sometimes you put some goals in your mind and you try too hard,” he said. “I’ve learned that when you try too much, it’s when you don’t get the milestone and you don’t get anything.”
Well, he’s reached one milestone: With Wednesday’s homer, Ozuna reached the 100-RBIs mark for the second straight season. He’s two homers away from having 40 home runs and 100 RBIs for the second consecutive year.
“It means a lot,” Ozuna said of having 100 RBIs again. “After last year, the rough start, this year started the way that I wanted and I’ve kept it (going) all year, (and) it’s been amazing and special for me.”
Ozuna’s 26-game homer drought was the fourth-longest run of his career – and the longest as a Brave. It was the lengthiest such run since a 35-game homerless streak in 2018.
Ozuna began the season with an awful month.
He’s put that far behind him.
“It’s been awesome,” Snitker said. “He’s probably gonna be another 40 and 100 guy. Nobody would’ve thought that from where he started last year. I’m proud of the man, what he’s done and how he’s hung in there, and I know his teammates really appreciate him, too.”
3. In that seventh inning, the Braves put runners on second and third after Ozuna’s homer. Soon, they had two outs.
Uh-oh.
They’ve struggled with these spots. They led by a run when Gio Urshela stepped up to the plate.
With the bases loaded, Urshela rescued the Braves by hitting a four-seam fastball for a two-run single. The Braves took a three-run lead. Then they scored twice in the eighth.
Urshela’s hit started it.
“Huge right there,” Snitker said. " … Those are big, man. Those add-on runs, like we talked about last night, are really big here, especially, in this ballpark.”
4. The tough part about the Braves’ position: They need help from others. They are only two games back, but that means they must win as others lose.
They took care of business on Wednesday …
But so did the Diamondbacks and Mets. The Braves remain two back with 10 to play. The Mets host the Phillies for four games beginning Thursday, while Arizona begins a four-game series in Milwaukee on Thursday.
“The standings, we don’t worry about it,” Ozuna said. “As a player, we don’t worry about it. We just go out there and have fun and win the game. We just have to win the game and not worry about, ‘Oh, the Phillies are 10 games (up), the Mets are one up or two up.’ Whatever they are, we just worry about winning the game. If we don’t win the game, we’re not gonna (catch up to) them.”
5. On Wednesday, Ozzie Albies, batting leadoff and playing second base for Gwinnett, went 2-for-5 in his second rehab game. The important point in this one: The two hits came against a righty, which is an encouraging sign as Albies returns batting only right-handed.
“As long as he’s comfortable with it and feels confident about it – we all know what that right-handed bat is like,” Snitker said before Wednesday’s game. “But he just kind of needs some experience, is all. He’s such a good athlete, and that right-handed swing is so good.”
If he feels well, Albies will return for Friday’s series opener in Miami.
Snitker said he’s still figuring out where Whit Merrifield, the current starting second baseman, will play when Albies is back. But Snitker said Merrifield has had good at-bats and features good speed, and it seems like he’ll still have some sort of role.
Stat to know
84 - The Braves homered twice on Wednesday. Their 84 homers since the All-Star break rank third in baseball in that span. Arizona (95) has the most homers since the break.
Quotable
“He’s special. He’s one of the younger guys that have come up and showed he’s got some (guts) and go out there and grind every single outing. For me, he’s amazing as a rookie.” - Ozuna on Schwellenbach
Up next
Chris Sale will start Thursday’s series finale for Atlanta. Right-hander Julian Aguiar will pitch for the Reds. The game begins at 1:10 p.m.
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