The Braves have spent weeks trying to produce a turning point; a victory, sequence or event that propels them into the summer feeling more like their old selves.
Maybe defeating Clayton Kershaw and Trevor Bauer in consecutive days is just that.
Behind starter Max Fried and just enough offense, the Braves beat the Dodgers 4-2 at Truist Park on Sunday afternoon to win the best-of-three series.
“I felt like we played really good, complete baseball,” Fried said. “Offense, defense, pitching; we were able to put it all together. This is obviously the type of baseball we know we can play. It’s just about building off that.”
The Braves had six hits against Bauer, including three doubles. They struck first on Abraham Almonte’s double that scored Dansby Swanson in the second. In the following frame, Freddie Freeman walked and scored on Ozzie Albies’ double to make it 2-0. Ender Inciarte’s RBI single in the sixth and sacrifice fly in the ninth added further insurance.
Bauer hadn’t allowed more than five hits in a start this season. The Braves tagged him for three runs, the second-highest total he’s surrendered in an outing (the highest total, four, occurred at Coors Field).
In a rematch of their memorable faceoff in last season’s wild-card round Game 1, Fried outdueled Bauer, the reigning National League Cy Young winner. Fried, facing the Dodgers for the first time since the 2020 NL Championship Series, resembled his form of a season ago. He held the Dodgers to one run on six hits over six innings. He struck out four and didn’t issue a walk in what became his first career win over his hometown team.
“You know he’s going to bring his A-game,” Fried said of Bauer. “You know he’s going to bring his stuff. He’s obviously one of the better pitchers in baseball. You have to try to match zeroes, go out there and be on the attack. Don’t give any free bases. Keep the blinders on. You can’t get too distracted, just focus on one pitch at a time.”
Fried started to run out of gas in the final two frames. He escaped sixth-inning danger by coaxing Albert Pujols into a flyout in left-field foul territory with two Dodgers in scoring position. He left with two runners on and none out in the seventh, but A.J. Minter retired the next three on quiet flyouts.
“That was huge,” manager Brian Snitker said. “Momentum was kind of slipping away at that point and edging back in their court, and (Minter) gave it right back to us.”
Fried’s latest start was a nice rebound after he was roughed up in his last outing. Since returning from a hamstring injury, Fried, despite battling some walking issues, has allowed one or fewer runs in five of six starts.
The bullpen, meanwhile, suppressed the Dodgers’ offense again. After holding Los Angeles scoreless over four innings Saturday, three Braves relievers held the Dodgers to one run - a Pujols solo shot off Will Smith - in three innings.
It was a timely series win for the Braves, who are trying to generate momentum during a crucial June slate. The Braves and Dodgers won’t see each other again until the Braves travel to Southern California at August’s end. The Braves will have the chance to win a season series over Los Angeles for the first time since 2013.
“It remains to be seen (if the team has righted the ship),” Snitker said. “Hopefully, it’s something you look back on in two or three weeks and maybe point to this. I hope. Other than the one inning (an eight-run fifth Friday night), we played a really good series this weekend against the world champions. We did a lot of really good things. The bullpen was unbelievable. We got some big hits. It should show those guys that we’re as good as anybody out there when we play the way we’re capable of playing.”
The Braves are off Monday before beginning a six-game road trip within the NL East. They’ll start a three-game series in Philadelphia on Tuesday and face the Marlins in Miami next weekend.
