'Stuff happens': Schwellenbach not sweating rough patch of starts

PHOENIX -- Spencer Schwellenbach looked human again. Ozzie Albies extended his woes in clutch two-out situations. And the inability to construct yet another late rally prevented the Braves from completing a three-game sweep at Chase Field on Sunday afternoon.

“Obviously, you’d like to take three, but I like where we’re at going into Colorado,” Braves third baseman Austin Riley said.

Even with Sunday’s 6-4 loss to the D-backs, the Braves (12-15) will enter Monday’s series opener at Coors Field having won seven of their past nine games. A series sweep of the 4-23 Rockies would give them a .500 record for the first time in a season that started with seven straight losses.

Here are three takeaways from Sunday’s loss:

1. No late-inning magic
The Braves entered this series finale having either erased a deficit or taken a lead in the eighth inning of five of their past eight games. The D-backs' bullpen had posted a 7.36 ERA over the past eight games.

The script seemed to be unfolding in favorable manner when the Braves scored a pair of seventh-inning runs to cut their deficit to 4-3. But the D-backs reclaimed a three-run lead when Josh Naylor’s two-out fly ball fell between Alex Verdugo and Michael Harris II in left-center field.

“A lot of times out there, you can’t hear,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “… I get caught up talking about [one hitter] prior to that.”

Pavin Smith came to the plate with two on and one out. He was fortunate that third-base umpire Tony Randazzo said he checked his swing on a 2-2 pitch from Aaron Bummer. He drew a walk on the next pitch, a sweeper near the bottom of the zone. This set the stage for him to score from first on Naylor’s well-positioned fly ball.

“I don’t want to belabor that,” Snitker said of the close calls. “We [made it tough on ourselves] enough.”

2. Albies’ struggles
The Braves went 4-for-15 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 runners on Sunday. One of the game’s big moments occurred in the first inning, when Verdugo briefly stumbled while tagging from third base on Marcell Ozuna’s fly ball that Corbin Carroll caught along the right-field line. Carroll’s strong throw and Jose Herrera’s tag prevented Verdugo from scoring on a bang-bang play.

But the Braves had their chances. Verdugo’s RBI single in the seventh put runners on the corners and cut the deficit to one run. But Riley and Ozuna both struck out against Shelby Miller, Atlanta’s ace during the 2015 season. After Matt Olson walked to load the bases, Albies hit a weak popup that was gloved in foul territory behind third base. The second baseman also stranded two with his game-ending flyout to center.

Albies has hit .229 with a .664 OPS through 27 games. He’s 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position and two outs. He also entered Sunday with a career-low 27.8 percent hard-hit rate.

“He has a lot of confidence and understands that this is a seven-month season,” Snitker said. “He could rattle off two great months and be right where you want him to be.”

3. Schwelly isn’t worried
What level of expectation did Schwellenbach set with his great rookie season? Well, after allowing four runs (three earned) over six innings on Sunday afternoon, there was reason to ask the Braves hurler why he has looked human in his past four starts.

Schwellenbach has produced a 4.56 ERA over the past four starts, but he’s completed at least six innings in three of those outings. It’s hard to be critical of this stretch. But he hasn’t been as dominant as he was when he constructed a 2.50 ERA over an 12-start stretch that began in August and extended through this season’s first two starts.

The 24-year-old hurler, who is in just his third professional season, has allowed six or more hits in each of his past four outings. He did so in just seven of 21 starts last year, including just once in his final nine outings.

“It's the same thing with hitting, when you go 3-for-4, but when taking the same swings, with the same timing, you go for 0-for-4 the next game," Schwellenbach said. "It’s not like you have to change anything. Stuff happens.”