Rookie Spencer Schwellenbach threw six strong innings to earn his first major league win on Tuesday when the Atlanta Braves beat the visiting Detroit Tigers 2-1 for the second straight game.
The Braves have won five of their last six. The Tigers have lost three straight and dropped nine of their last 12. The Braves have never swept a three-game series against the Tigers.
Schwellenbach, a second-round draft pick in 2021, grew up in Saginaw, Mich., as a Tigers fan. He was making his fourth career start. The 24-year-old right-hander opened the outing with five scoreless innings before surrendering his lone run in the sixth.
Schwellenbach (1-2) allowed three hits and two walks and posted a career-best seven strikeouts. He lowered his ERA from 6.32 to 4.98.
Pierce Johnson and Joe Jimenez both worked around a hit to pitch a scoreless inning of relief. Raisel Iglesias pitched a perfect ninth to pick up his 19th save.
The Braves got both of their runs in the first inning. Jarred Kelenic led off with a single and scored on a triple by Ozzie Albies, who then came in on Marcell Ozuna’s RBI single. It was the National League-leading 63rd RBI for Ozuna.
Detroit starter Casey Mize (1-5) suffered from an elevated pitch count, throwing 87 pitches in four innings. That included a 13-pitch at-bat with Albies. Mize allowed two runs on five hits, with no walks and three strikeouts.
The Detroit bullpen kept the Braves off the board by retiring all 12 batters faced. Beau Brieske pitched 2 1/3 innings, Andrew Chafin pitched one inning and Will Vest got the final two outs.
The Tigers scored a run in the sixth inning when Riley Greene led off with a triple that fell between right fielder Adam Duvall and center fielder Kelenic. Gio Urshela drove Greene home with a one-out single to left.
–Field Level Media
