Braves Bullpen Collapses Late as Rockies Take Finale and Series

The Atlanta Braves took a gut punch today, dropping the series finale 9-8 to the Colorado Rockies in Coors Field on Sunday afternoon after a furious 8th-inning rally from Colorado.

Here’s what you need to know about from the contest.

Spencer Schwellenbach is just great

The Braves sent the youngster, making just his twelfth major league start, into perhaps his toughest test yet: notoriously hitter-friendly Coors Field.

He handled it with aplomb.

Schwellenbach made it through six innings, allowing only two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out seven. Both the walks and the strikeouts were notable, for different reasons.

Schwellenbach's one of the preeminent control artists in all of baseball - prior to today, he hadn't walked a batter since July 12th. Even with two today, he has only twelve walks in 71.2 innings on the season.

And for the strikeouts, his seven today gives him seventy-seven across his first twelve starts. Per the AJC's Justin Toscano, those 77 strikeouts ties Schwellenbach with Ian Anderson for the most strikeouts through a player's first twelve starts in Braves franchise history.

Schwellenbach finished the outing with 17 whiffs and a 32% CSW, again throwing six different pitches. Outside of some control issues that cropped up in that fourth inning, the righthander handled the elevation of Coors Field with aplomb.

Jorge Soler, have a series

Believe it or not, there were some Braves fans that claimed the Jorge Soler acquisition was a massive mistake, simply because of a lack of success in a small sample for the slugger while he was acclimating to playing in the outfield for the first time since 2023 (he exclusively DH'd with the San Francisco Giants prior to the trade).

Soler started his tenure with Atlanta 4-24 entering this series, logging just one extra-base hit while striking out ten times.

About that.

Soler hit a three-run homer in the 7th inning of this one, giving him a bomb in all three games of the series, and then followed that up with yet another homer in the 8th inning, that one a solo shot. Finishing 7-13 with four homers, nine RBI, and only one strikeout, Soler showed with President of Baseball Operations Alex Anthopoulos has been trying to get Soler back since he signed with Miami after the 2021 World Series championship.

Here's a fun fact courtesy of managing editor Noah Griffith : All of Soler's last six homers have come against the Colorado Rockies, split across multiple series, ballparks, and teams.

With the team leaving Colorado this evening and flying to San Francisco to take on the Giants, that recent success is both ballparks probably a good sign.

The Braves have a good thing going at catcher

There's been some consternation across Braves Country about the usage of Atlanta's two co-starters behind the plate in Sean Murphy and Travis d'Arnaud.

Several fans feel like, to make the trade and contract extension that was given to Sean Murphy a worthwhile investment, he needs to be catching four or so straight games before Travis d'Arnaud rotates in for a start.

But the team's insistent on an almost even share of playing time, to keep both backstops healthy and effective through the grind of a long season. And it's working.

In the last fifteen days, both catchers have exceptional stats, with Murphy at a .886 OPS and d'Arnaud at a .889. The duo has combined for four homers across that span, with d'Arnaud hitting a two-run bomb today.

With both catchers having extended absences in the last two seasons due to injury, giving them even shares of playing time is a good way to keep them both healthy when they're both available - no sense in riding one too hard and then watching that guy need to take a larger share if the other gets hurt.

(Also, the team's decision for next season will be fascinating - d'Arnaud's technically a free agent, but the team holds a club option for his age-36 season. With Drake Baldwin impressing in Triple-A Gwinnett, does AA elect to give d'Arnaud one last ride?)

Another bullpen collapse

Atlanta went into the eighth inning with a six-run lead and newly-acquired Luke Jackson on the mound. Despite a one-out two-run homer, Jackson rebounded with a strikeout of catcher Jacob Stallings and it appeared that he would get out of the inning with no further damage.

Yeah, the baseball gods felt otherwise.

Colorado strung together six consecutive hits to score five additional runs, the last few coming in after Joe Jiménez came in to try and clean up Jackson's mess for the second time this series. Jiménez officially took the loss, his fourth of the season, and was tagged with his second blown save of the season as well.

It was, quite literally, a historic comeback for Colorado.

Jackson has now allowed six runs on ten hits in his 5.2 innings since rejoining the team via trade at the deadline, good for a 9.53 ERA. With Dylan Lee able to be recalled on August 19th (or earlier if there's an injury), Jackson may not be long for the roster.

But let's not chalk this up to just Jackson struggling - since the All-Star Break, Atlanta's pitching staff as a whole has been one of the worst in baseball with a 5.43 ERA that is 27th in the sport.

What’s next for the Atlanta Braves?

Atlanta's heading to San Francisco for a four-game set against the Giants in Oracle Park, and it's going to be a treat if you're a fan of pitching - there's some great matchups this week.

Chris Sale takes on reigning NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell on Monday, with veteran Charlie Morton vs youngster Kyle Harrison on Tuesday, Grant Holmes vs returning Robbie Ray on Wednesday, and Max Fried squaring off with fellow Cy Young runner-up Logan Webb on Thursday.

First pitch in Monday's game one is scheduled for 9:45 PM ET on Bally Sports South.