The visiting Atlanta Braves will turn to right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach as they look to win their first series in almost a month when they face the Milwaukee Brewers in the deciding game on Wednesday.
Schwellenbach (4-4, 3.24 ERA) will be opposed by rookie right-hander Chad Patrick (3-5, 2.84).
The Brewers evened the series at one win apiece with a 4-1 victory on Tuesday. Jackson Chourio and Jake Bauers homered and Quinn Priester allowed one run in six innings to prevent the Braves from winning back-to-back games for the first time since May 15-16.
Atlanta, which snapped seven-game losing streak with a 7-1 victory in the series opener on Monday, has lost 15 of its past 19. The Braves have dropped six consecutive series since taking two of three at Boston from May 16-18.
The Braves are 2-28 when failing to score more than three runs after getting held down by Priester and two Brewers reliever.
“He just kept us off balance,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Priester. “I don’t remember us even mounting any kind of threats against him, really.”
Ronald Acuna Jr. had three hits on Tuesday and drove in the Braves’ only run. Since coming off the injured list May 23, Acuna is batting .333 with five homers, two doubles and nine RBIs in 17 games.
Schwellenbach is 3-1 in his past six starts, tossing at least six innings each time. He did not get a decision in his latest outing after allowing four runs, three earned, in six innings during a no-decision at San Francisco on Friday.
Schwellenbach, who went 8-7 with a 3.35 ERA in 21 starts as a rookie last season, ranks fourth in the National League in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 5.36.
The Brewers lost three of their previous four games, scoring one run total in the three defeats, before four again proved to be the magic number on Tuesday. Milwaukee is 31-7 when scoring four runs or more and 5-25 when scoring three or fewer.
Patrick will be making his 14th start after one relief appearance. He is 2-2 with a 2.82 ERA in his past seven starts, tossing six innings each of his past two times out.
Patrick allowed just one run on four hits and three walks on Friday but took the loss when the Brewers were blanked 2-0 by the San Diego Padres.
“Chad Patrick was very, very good,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said afterward. “I think that trusting he can go the third time through, trusting that we believe in him that he can do that, so I thought it was a big night for him.”
Patrick was the International League Pitcher of the Year last season after going 14-1 with a 2.90 ERA in 26 games, including 24 starts, for Triple-A Nashville.
Prior to the Tuesday game, the Brewers shuffled their bullpen, calling up right-hander Easton McGee from Nashville and sending down right-hander Grant Anderson.
The Brewers reportedly will promote hard-throwing prospect Jacob Misiorowski to make his debut on Thursday against the St. Louis Cardinals. The 6-foot-7, 23-year-old right-hander, whose fastball routinely tops 100 mph, is 4-2 with a 2.13 ERA at Nashville with 80 strikeouts in 63 1/3 innings.
Misiorowski has fanned 320 in 233 2/3 innings during his minor league career.
–Field Level Media
