'Nasty' Schwellenbach stifles 1st-place Phils in latest gem

ATLANTA -- Chris Sale, Reynaldo López and Max Fried earned All-Star selections this year. The Braves might have sent four starters to the Midsummer Classic had Spencer Schwellenbach not spent most of the season's first two months with High-A Rome.

Schwellenbach added to the splendor of his great story as he helped the Braves claim a series victory with a 3-2 win over the Phillies on Thursday night at Truist Park. The rookie hurler retired 19 straight at one point and benefited from Adam Duvall's game-winning home run.

“He pitched an unbelievable game tonight,” Duvall said. “It’s fun watching that.”

Duvall’s sixth-inning leadoff homer against Cristopher Sánchez proved decisive for the Braves, who are now six games behind the Phillies in the National League East race. The division rivals will finish their season series with a four-game set in Philadelphia that starts next Thursday.

By taking two of three from the Phillies, the Braves strengthened their hold on the final NL Wild Card spot and showed some resolve. They could have folded on Monday, when their injury woes grew with the revelation Austin Riley will miss the remainder of the regular season with a fractured right hand.

“It’s great to see how they rallied around this series,” manager Brian Snitker said. “We’ve got another big series starting tomorrow [against the Nationals]. They’re all big now. All games are big. None are any more important than the others. It’s just about winning games.”

If the Braves reach the postseason, Sale, Fried and López might be their first three starters. But if Schwellenbach stays healthy and strong down the stretch, he will provide a reliable fourth option. That’s good news for a team that was foiled by rotation health issues during the past two postseasons.

“It’s just really impressive how he goes about it and how he handles himself in situations and the pressure of the games,” Snitker said. “It doesn’t seem to bother him.”

Schwellenbach limited the Phillies to two runs and three hits over 6 2/3 innings. The rookie walked Kyle Schwarber to begin the game and later surrendered an RBI groundout to Nick Castellanos for the second out of the inning. That began a stretch of retiring 19 straight batters before Schwellenbach's night ended with a Bryson Stott infield single followed by a J.T. Realmuto RBI double in the top of the seventh.

The 24-year-old righty became the third Braves rookie during the Expansion Era (since 1961) to retire 19 straight within a game. The others were Ron Reed (April 29, 1968, vs. the Giants) and Craig McMurtry (May 10, 1983, vs. the Expos and June 24, 1983, vs. the Reds).

“I have confidence every time I throw,” Schwellenbach said. “But after one like that, when you’ve got you’re team behind you, too, it makes you feel really good.”

Schwellenbach has a 3.94 ERA in 14 starts since coming to the Majors in late May. He has a 2.84 ERA over his past eight starts going back to the start of July. That’s the NL’s eighth-best mark during that span.

“He’s got a lot of pitches and he throws them all for strikes,” Snitker said. “They’re all good, quality pitches. He controls the running game and fields his position. He does all the things winning pitchers do.”

The Phillies whiffed on seven of their 16 swings against Schwellenbach’s slider and on seven of their nine swings against his curveball. Those breaking balls serve as just a couple of the weapons within the six-pitch mix that has baffled opponents over the past few months.

“Yeah, I mean the splitter,” Duvall said. “I saw some slow-motion swings on it and the action on that is pretty nasty. To be able to command and still have that many pitches is pretty impressive for a young guy.”

Schwellenbach's ascension and prolonged immediate success have been incredible. He didn’t pitch at the University of Nebraska until he served as a closer in 2021. He missed the next year while recovering from Tommy John surgery and he was on a rehab schedule when he introduced himself to being a starting pitcher last year.

When he came up in May with just two starts above the High-A level, the assumption was his stay would be short. Now, there’s reason to wonder if he’ll be starting big games in October.

“When they called me up, they said, ‘We need a guy,’” Schwellenbach said. “I said, ‘I’m going to be that guy.’ Having that mindset and staying confident. That’s really all I can do for myself.”