Austin Riley and Ronald Acuna Jr. each hit home runs to support Spencer Schwellenbach’s strong start and the Atlanta Braves blanked the visiting Boston Red Sox 5-0 on Saturday to even their three-game interleague series.
The Braves, who had lost seven of their last nine, took a 3-2 lead in the season series. Boston has dropped six of its last seven.
Riley and Acuna both went deep in the fourth inning when the Braves rallied for four runs to take control.
Schwellenbach (4-4) pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings and allowed five hits and no walks with 11 strikeouts. It was his second straight appearance with 11 strikeouts, matching his career high.
Daysbel Hernandez struck out both batters he faced to close the seventh. Dylan Lee pitched a perfect eighth and Rafael Montero worked the ninth to nail down Atlanta’s third shutout win.
Boston starter Walker Buehler (4-3) threw a season-high 106 pitches, only 64 for strikes, during 5 2/3 innings. He allowed five runs on 10 hits, two walks and six strikeouts. He had allowed three or fewer runs in each of his last six starts.
The Braves scored in the first when Acuna singled and scored on Matt Olson’s two-out double.
Leading off the fourth, Riley drove a knuckle curve 400 feet into the left-center field stands for his 10th home run. Riley had driven the previous pitch into the seats, but it veered foul at the last minute.
Ozzie Albies followed with a walk, took second on Buehler’s errant pickoff throw and scored when Michael Harris II lined a single to center field. Acuna then drilled a 428-foot homer to right-center, his third in eight games, to make it 5-0.
Boston had two hits in both the fourth and fifth innings and failed to score.
–Field Level Media
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