Spencer Schwellenbach stymies Red Sox on 25th birthday in Braves’ 5-0 victory

ATLANTA (AP) — Spencer Schwellenbach struck out 11 in 6 1/3 innings on his 25th birthday to help the Atlanta Braves beat the Boston Red Sox 5-0 on Saturday.

Schwellenbach (4-1) allowed five hits and didn’t walk a batter. He rebounded against the Red Sox after giving up a grand slam to Rafael Devers in a 10-4 loss May 18 in Boston.

Schwellenbach has gone six-plus innings in four consecutive starts and it was the ninth time in 12 starts he’s made it into at least the sixth inning this season.

Ronald Acuña Jr. and Austin Riley hit fourth-inning home runs off Walker Buehler (4-3).

Buehler allowed five earned runs on 10 hits with two walks and six strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings.

Key moment

The Braves scored four runs in fourth to take a 5-0 lead. It was just the third time since May 5 the Braves have scored at least four runs in an inning.

Key stat

Schwellenbach threw 10 pitches 99 mph or more in the first two innings. Those were the 10 fastest pitches of his career. Before Saturday, his fastest was 98.9 mph.

Up next

LHP Garrett Crochet (4-4, 2.04 ERA) was set to start for Boston against RHP Bryce Elder (2-2, 4.50) on Sunday in the series finale.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb