In what was one of the wilder games of the 2025 season, the Braves mounted a comeback in the 9th inning and walked it off in the 11th by way of a 5-4 score to take three out of four from the Reds.
In the 11th, there were two runners on, two outs, and two strikes as rookie Drake Baldwin stepped in against veteran lefty Taylor Rogers. Baldwin fouled off a couple of tough pitches to stay alive and then smoke a fastball at the top of the zone past the diving third baseman and score Ozzie Albies to win it.
The unsung hero of the night: Scott Blewett, who did anything but. The righty tossed perfect 10th and 11th innings to keep the score tied until Baldwin could send them home. An enormous tip of the cap to Blewett, who’s done a nice job since coming over from Baltimore.
In the bottom of the 9th, the Braves found some magic down by two runs. And boy did they need it after another frustrating night at the plate. Ozzie Albies walked, Sean Murphy smacked a single, and Eli White bunted in a run and advanced pinch-runner Eddie Rosario to second.
Michael Harris, the hero two nights ago, then inside-outed a weak grounder perfectly past the shortstop to score Rosario and tie the game. Harris would wind up on third on an errant throw, but Baldwin struck out and Alex Verdugo grounded out weakly to keep the score tied at 4-4.
In the top of the 9th, with the score tied 2-2, Raisel Iglesias hung a cement-mixer-so-bad-your-grandmother-could-hit-it slider in the middle of the zone on an 0-2 pitch that Rece Hinds smoked over the left field wall to make it 4-2. Iglesias shook off whatever pitch Sean Murphy called for previously and then hung it.
Coming off the worst stretch of his big league career, Spencer Schwellenbach looked much more like himself on Thursday night. He worked six innings and allowed just one run on five hits and two walks. He struck out six. Hopefully, this is a big step in the right direction in getting his season back on track.
It feels like an eternity ago, but the Braves struck in the first inning by way of an Austin Riley double, Marcell Ozuna single and Matt Olson sac fly. That would be it for the club offensively for a while, though, as the lineup continued to struggle this week.
The Reds evened things up in the fifth on a Jose Trevino RBI double, although Schwellenbach did a nice job limiting the damage from there. Atlanta responded in the bottom half with a bunt single by way of Eli White and an RBI triple from Michael Harris to re-take the lead.
In the sixth, it seemed like things were going sideways for Schwellenbach as he put runners on the corners with just one out. The former college shortstop induced a terrific 1-4-3 double play to escape the jam.
Rafael Montero entered the seventh with a one-run lead and promptly gave it up. Two walks and a double loaded the bases, which brought Dylan Lee into the game. Lee gave up a single to TJ Friedl to tie it at 2-2, but a massive pair of strikeouts kept the bases loaded and score tied. A tip of the cap to Lee for cleaning that mess up and keeping Atlanta in the game.
Atlanta is 18-19.
The Braves continue their NL Central tour with a road trip to face the Pirates for a three-game series that begins Friday night. The Pirates just fired manager Derek Shelton on Thursday after a dismal 12-26 start and have been downright awful in the early going. It will be Bryce Elder against TBA at 6:40 p.m. ET.
