ATLANTA — Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Spencer Schwellenbach struck out 11 batters in 6 1/3 innings on his 25th birthday, and the home team beat the Boston Red Sox 5-0 on Saturday at Truist Park to square their three-game interleague series heading into Sunday’s finale.
The Braves woke up at the plate after going quietly during a 5-1 loss Friday night while dropping to fourth place in the National League East Division standings, but the bigger story Saturday was Schwellenbach (4-4), who allowed five hits and didn’t walk a batter against Boston, which was shut out for the first time this season.
He rebounded against the American League East’s Red Sox after giving up a grand slam to Rafael Devers in a 10-4 loss May 18 in Boston. Schwellenbach has gone six-plus innings in four consecutive starts, and it was the ninth time in 12 starts the right-hander has made it into at least the sixth inning this season.
Schwellenbach threw 10 pitches clocked 99 mph or faster in the first two innings, and those were the 10 speediest pitches of his career; before Saturday, his record was 98.9 mph.
Ronald Acuña Jr. and Austin Riley hit home runs off Walker Buehler (4-3) during a four-run fourth to make it 5-0. It was just the third time since May 5 the Braves have scored at least four runs in an inning.
Buehler allowed five earned runs on 10 hits with two walks and six strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.
The scheduled starting pitchers for Sunday afternoon’s rubber match are Boston left-hander Garrett Crochet (4-4, 2.04 ERA) and Atlanta right-hander Bryce Elder (2-2, 4.50).