Cobb Reporter

Joe Harris

ST. LOUIS -- Spencer Schwellenbach was an out away from another strong outing but could not secure it. The Cardinals scored all four of their runs with a two-out rally in the third inning and held on to give the Braves a 4-3 loss in the first of a three-game series on Monday night at Busch Stadium.

As a result, Schwellenbach’s final line was four runs in five innings, and the eight hits he allowed are the most he has given up through the first five starts of his career.

"It's hard to say that I threw well giving up four runs and eight hits, but seven singles, like I'm doing my job throwing strikes," said Schwellenbach, ranked by MLB Pipeline as the Braves' No. 3 prospect. "I just seemed to not be able to get them out today."

After striking out Brandon Crawford to lead off the third inning, Michael Siani singled and took second on a wild pitch. Schwellenbach (1-3) still appeared poised to get out of the inning after coaxing Masyn Winn into a groundout for the second out, but Alec Burleson began a series of four straight hits with an RBI double.

Willson Contreras followed with an RBI single that just snuck under the glove of Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia. After a Nolan Gorman single, Brendan Donovan’s RBI single made it 3-0 Cardinals.

The fourth run ended with Donovan being caught stealing, but he managed to get caught in a rundown before being tagged out, allowing Gorman to score from third base.

Braves manager Brian Snitker commented on Gorman's play: "A lot of things, just little things, you know; today wasn’t anything big or anything like that. Just couldn't get anything going our way really."

Despite this setback, there were several positives from Schwellenbach's start. He struck out six batters—his second-most strikeouts in five career games—and did not walk any batters for the first time in his career.

"One bad inning, one pitch away to three or four guys there with two outs," Schwellenbach said. "I just couldn't seem to make the pitch. But other than that inning, I thought I did well and executed pitches."

Snitker appreciated how Schwellenbach responded after the third inning: "You know, wasn’t hit hard or anything and just maybe a couple of two-strike pitches didn't get them quite where he wanted, but they didn't square him up good. And he rebounded and did a great job."

Austin Riley’s eighth homer of the season got Atlanta on the board leading off the fifth inning with a 421-foot shot to center field.

The Braves threatened again in the eighth as Forrest Wall and Zack Short drew back-to-back walks and then took second and third on a double steal. However, Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez struck out Jarred Kelenic for the second out and Ozzie Albies flied out to deep center field to end the inning.

"I threw my hands up thinking he had got it," Riley said about Albies’ drive that landed in Siani’s glove at Busch Stadium instead of being a game-tying home run at Truist Park.

In their last effort during the ninth inning, Atlanta loaded bases and scored two runs via an RBI single by Ramón Laureano and a sacrifice fly by Travis d’Arnaud. Nevertheless, Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley struck out Short to secure his Major League-leading 27th save of this season.

"A lot of positives there," Riley remarked about their late efforts. "Right there in eighth and then once again in ninth having some good at-bats."

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