Schwellenbach stifles Shohei Ohtani, Braves beat Dodgers 6-2
ATLANTA (AP) — Spencer Schwellenbach kept Shohei Ohtani in the park and off the bases, while Gio Urshela and Jorge Soler went deep for the Atlanta Braves in a 6-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on a damp Friday night.
Ohtani was hitless in four at-bats with two strikeouts, putting a hold on his quest to become the first player in major league history with 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in a season. He was 0 for 3 against Schwellenbach (6-7) before striking out on a rising, 95 mph fastball from Joe Jiménez that was well out of the zone.
The Dodgers star is at 47 homers and 48 stolen bases with 15 games left in the regular season.
Schwellenbach, who started the season in the Class A Sally League, surrendered two runs on four hits in six strong innings.
Atlanta remained a game behind the Mets for the NL's final wildcard spot. New York won 11-3 at division-leading Philadelphia.
The Dodgers came in with five-game lead over Arizona in the NL West. LA's magic number was 11 to clinch their 12th division title in the last 13 years.
Los Angeles also started a rookie, Landon Knack, who didn't fare nearly as well as Schwellenbach on a night where showers sent fans scattering for cover a couple of times but never halted play.
Knack (2-4) was rocked in two innings of work, giving up seven hits, five runs, two homers and two walks. Of the six hitters he retired, two of them hit towering flies that were caught at the wall in center field.
After Matt Olson put the home team ahead with a run-scoring double in the first, Atlanta poured it on in the second as Urshela and Soler both hit two-run homers to make it 5-0.
Raisel Iglesias pitched a perfect ninth in a non-save situation.