MILWAUKEE — With a 6-2 win against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday afternoon, the Atlanta Braves gave their fans a few things to celebrate that, at least of late, have become rarities for the team.
First, there was the victory, just Atlanta’s fifth in 20 games since its most recent venture above .500 this season.
Second, the Braves won twice in three games at American Family Field — they opened with a 7-1 win Monday night, then lost 4-1 on Tuesday — for their first series victory after losing six in a row to the Washington Nationals, San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants, with the latter two sweeping three-game sets.
And finally, with last Thursday’s 11-10 home loss to Arizona after leading 10-4 entering the ninth inning proved no lead might be safe with their bullpen, the Braves found a way around that risk, too: Spencer Schwellenbach pitched the first complete game of his MLB career, another highlight in an increasingly impressive second season for the 25-year-old right-hander.
Schwellenbach (5-4) allowed five hits, struck out nine batters and walked none while throwing 105 pitches, with 76 of those strikes. He has worked at least six innings in seven consecutive starts, but of his 35 previous starts in the majors, the longest was eight innings against the Miami Marlins on April 4.
“Man, it was something else,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said in his postgame news conference. “A lot of strikes, obviously, a lot of first-pitch strikes — his stuff was just good from one to nine. To strike out nine and only have that many pitches is a feat in and of itself.”
Ronald Acuña Jr. and Michael Harris II each hit a two-run home for Atlanta, which had last won a series by taking two of three on May 16-18 at Boston’s Fenway Park, with each of those wins against the Red Sox putting the Braves above .500 for the only two times this season. Atlanta started this season 0-7 and had lost seven in a row to fall to a season-worst 10 games below .500 coming to Milwaukee.
Now 29-38 overall and fourth in the National League East Division standings, there’s still plenty of work remaining for the Braves as they seek an eighth straight postseason berth. Wednesday’s win at least ensured a better mood for the flight to Atlanta than the one to San Francisco at the start of this six-game road trip after the bullpen meltdown against the Diamondbacks.
Harris went deep in the second inning against rookie right-hander Chad Patrick (3-6). Acuña, who also singled twice, took Patrick deep in the fourth for his sixth homer since coming off the injured list on May 23 to start his season.
“I’m really liking penciling that name in at the top of the order,” Snitker said. “I know that.”
Milwaukee’s Jackson Chourio tripled in the first inning and ran on contact when William Contreras hit a one-out grounder to third baseman Austin Riley, who threw to the plate to make Chourio an easy out.
Rhys Hoskins homered in the second for the Brewers. After that, Schwellenbach retired 13 straight batters before Brice Turang’s single in the sixth. Eric Haase added a two-out RBI double in the eighth, but Snitker stuck with Schwellenbach, who got Turang to fly out and then worked a perfect ninth.
“We watched him do it last year,” Snitker said of Schwellenbach, noting he pitched against “some of the best offenses in the National League last year down the stretch when we were trying to get into the playoffs and went toe to toe with all of them.
“He’s that guy. I think he’s built that way, and it was good for us to get a series win against a really good club.”
Now the Braves get the chance to sandwich rest days Thursday and Monday around a three-game home series against the Colorado Rockies, who entered Wednesday on a four-game losing streak and just 12-54 overall — more than 10 games behind the second-worst team in the majors this season.
The scheduled starting pitchers for Friday’s series opener at Truist Park are right-handers Bryce Elder (2-3, 4.08 ERA) for Atlanta and German Marquez (2-8, 7.00) for Colorado.
The Brewers (36-33), third in the NL Central, next host the St. Louis Cardinals in a four-game series that starts Thursday with right-handers on the mound. Sonny Gray (7-1, 3.35) gets the ball for St. Louis, while 23-year-old Jacob Misiorowski is set to make his MLB debut.
Misiorowski’s 103 mph pitch last month for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds was the highest recorded by a true starter in the majors or minors since Statcast started tracking in 2015. The 6-foot-7, 190-pounder arrived Tuesday night from Nashville, where he was 4-2 with a 2.13 ERA in 12 starts and one relief appearance with 80 strikeouts and 31 walks in 63 1/3 innings.
“I think it just plays into the fact that the Brewers trust me, and they think I have the strength to do it,” Misiorowski said before Wednesday’s series finale against the Braves. “I think I’m ready and willing to do it, so I’m excited.”
Misiorowski was selected in the second round of the 2022 draft from Crowder College in Neosho, Missouri. Last season, he was bypassed as a possible September callup to bolster Milwaukee’s bullpen.
“I just go out there and throw whatever they ask,” Misiorowski said. “If that’s 60 pitches or 70 pitches, that’s what it is. It’s been exciting, and now we’re here.”