Former Saginaw Heritage and Nebraska star Spencer Schwellenbach is not the star of the Atlanta Braves’ rotation.

But he pitched like any other Wednesday.

Schwellenbach became the Braves’ stopper, ending Atlanta’s three-game losing streak and evening his record at 7-7 with a 7-1 win over Cincinnati.

“He was as valuable as anybody,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker told the Associated Press. “I’m glad he got out of the sixth (first and third) with two outs. When you get into a close game like that, you never know what’s going to happen. The guys could pull together like we did and give him a win. I thought he was really, really good again tonight.”

Schwellenbach allowed five hits and one run in six innings, two walks and five strikeouts, which lowered his earned run average to 3.61. He threw 94 pitches, including 62 strikes.

The former Heritage pitcher/shortstop did not pitch in his first season in Atlanta’s system and threw just 65 innings in the minors in 2023. He pitched 45 innings in the minors this season before being promoted to Atlanta, where he threw 109 innings in 19 starts.

“These are the games I want to pitch in,” Schwellenbach told AP. “I have over 150 innings. I think I’ve hit a new wave.”

In his last five starts, the 24-year-old right-hander achieved an earned run average (ERA) of 2.63.

The win, Atlanta’s first against the Reds this season, kept the Braves in the race for the playoffs, two games behind the New York Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks for the last wild-card spot in the National League.

The Reds started with Jakob Junis, who allowed only two hits in six innings.

“We got some really good pitching from Jacob,” Reds manager David Bell told AP. “I think the biggest thing about the game was their young pitcher really gave us a hard time tonight. We couldn’t get much done.”

Schwellenbach is expected to make one more regular-season start for the Braves; his final game will be against the Mets, a key game with playoff implications.