The Braves endured a frustrating 10-inning opening-day defeat, losing to the Phillies 3-2 in Philadelphia on Thursday afternoon.
After trailing 2-0 for most of the game, Braves pinch-hitter Pablo Sandoval reset the contest in the seventh. He slugged an 0-2 pitch over the right-field wall that ended the day for Aaron Nola, who’d been mostly excellent until that point.
The teams played to a stalemate afterward, forcing extra innings. Freddie Freeman hit a grounder that advanced placed-runner Ozzie Albies to third – remember, MLB is continuing with the new extra-inning rules adopted last season, which meant Albies, the last out of the previous inning, started the frame at second. Albies darted home on Marcell Ozuna’s shallow pop-up, but he was tagged out at the plate to end the Braves’ 10th.
Albies briefly hesitated before breaking for home, which might’ve cost the Braves a go-ahead run. At first, it appeared Albies might’ve been hurt on the play, but the second baseman said he’s “totally fine.” He credited Phillies center fielder Roman Quinn for an on-the-money throw to the plate.
“I didn’t know what happened,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “I thought he was stopping for a minute. But I don’t know what happened. I’m just glad he’s OK when he went in headfirst. ... We’d do that 100 out of 100 times. We’ve got to go right there.”
Jean Segura’s two-out single off Nate Jones scored Bryce Harper, the placed runner, in the bottom of the inning to win the game. The Braves’ bullpen before that point was nearly flawless, pitching 4-2/3 scoreless innings (note: the winning run was unearned). Will Smith was particularly impressive, giving Phillies hitters a heavy dose of sliders en route to striking out the side.
As for the starting pitching, Max Fried never quite settled in during his first opening-day start, though did an admirable job escaping tough situations. Fried needed 80 pitches to get through four innings (94 overall), and while he was far from his best, he racked up eight strikeouts, several of which helped him limit damage.
Fried, 27, allowed runs in the first and third innings. He had only one 1-2-3 inning, the second. But he persisted: Fried threw over 30 pitches in the third, but held the Phillies to one run. He overcame a single and a Freeman error to get through the fourth unscathed. In the fifth, he pitched around J.T. Realmuto’s one-out double.
“I didn’t feel like I was really sharp,” Fried said. “I was just grinding and trying to compete out there, give us as much as I could and keep it close as possible and hopefully give us the opportunity to come back and win that game.”
Fried admitted the cold was an additional challenge, especially after just spending over a month in Florida. The Braves have already lost as many Fried starts this season as they did in 2020, when they went 10-1 in the southpaw’s regular-season outings.
“He was having a hard time finishing guys off,” Snitker said. “I told him when he came out, ‘That game could’ve been five, 6-0 instead of two. He showed me something there. The last inning was as good as any of them. He never gave in. It was a cold day. ... He just wasn’t real sharp. But he did what good pitchers do: He gave us a chance to win.”
Nola was masterful before his mistake to Sandoval. He held the Braves scoreless for 6-2/3 innings, striking out six and not issuing a walk. But the Braves made plenty of hard contact, the ball just ended up in the wrong places. They also had two potential homers off Nola fall short of the wall, thanks to the wind.
This was the third consecutive opening-day loss for the Braves, following other defeats to the Phillies (2019) and Mets (2020). They went on to win the NL East in both of those seasons.
The Braves and Phillies continue their series Saturday when Charlie Morton faces Zack Wheeler.
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