Max Fried pitches second career shutout as Braves beat Padres

SAN DIEGO – The Braves split two games in San Diego on Friday. They lost the first game, which was a continuation of a suspended contest from July 21, 6-5. They won the second game, which was the opener of the scheduled three-game series against the Padres, 4-0.

Here are five takeaways from Friday:

1. The Braves won the second game largely because Max Fried twirled a gem against the team that drafted him in 2012. Fried pitched a shutout, allowing just three hits. He struck out four and didn’t issue a walk. It was the second shutout of his career, both of which have come in the season’s second half (his first was Aug. 20 at Baltimore). Fried threw 98 pitches. His previous shutout required just 90 pitches.

Fried, a Santa Monica, California native, completed the shutout in front of family and friends who drove down to San Diego, which made it more special for him.

“It’s up there (for best outing in my career),” Fried said. “I had everything working today, kept them off balance. That’s a really good, aggressive team. I felt like the work I did with Trav (catcher Travis d’Arnaud) today to communicate a lot, then on top of some really great defensive plays behind me, it all came together.”

Manager Brian Snitker said Fried’s Friday outing was better than his shutout in Baltimore, especially given the circumstances with the Braves trying to secure a postseason spot late in the year. When asked to compare the shutouts, Fried responded: “To be honest, I haven’t had too much time to think about the outing. But I know it felt really good. It felt like we were really on the attack today. I can’t (compare) it to the Baltimore game, but given the situation, where we’re at in the year, I’d definitely say it’s up there.”

Fried looks every bit of an ace. He entered the day with a 1.99 ERA across 12 starts since the All-Star break. Opponents hit .202 against him in that time. The lefty has logged 11 consecutive quality starts, nine of which resulted in his team winning. It’s the longest such run by a Braves pitcher since southpaw Alex Wood also had 11 straight quality starts in 2014.

2. How brilliant has this run been for Fried? He had a 4.46 ERA after his July 23 start against the Phillies, just before his string of quality starts began. After his Sept. 24 start, he’s lowered his ERA to 3.12. In his last two starts, Fried has held the Giants and Padres to six hits and no runs over 16 innings. He’s struck out nine and walked just one over that span.

“Ever since he came back from the (injured list) stint, he’s been lights out,” shortstop Dansby Swanson said. “The whole month of August, he was tremendous. He’s been awesome this month. I know he works at it. I know he cares. He was as-advertised if not better tonight.”

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

3. The Braves started the suspended seven-inning game down 5-4 in the fifth. They tied the game with outfielder Adam Duvall’s solo shot off Padres reliever Daniel Hudson. It was a sequence fit for the odd circumstances: The stats from the suspended game backdate to July 21, when Duvall was with the Marlins and Hudson was with the Padres.

Padres All-Star Fernando Tatis Jr. blasted the game-winning homer off Will Smith in the seventh. It was the seventh homer Smith has surrendered in his last 20 appearances.

“That kid is not a good match for anybody,” manager Brian Snitker said of Tatis. “Bad location (on Smith’s fastball).”

It continued a disturbing trend for Smith, the Braves’ closer who’s allowed 11 earned runs on 15 hits, including the seven home runs, over his last 20 games (19-1/3 innings). While fans have pleaded for the Braves to consider other closing options, they’ve remained with Smith, for better or worse.

4. In the second game, shortstop Dansby Swanson belted his first home run since Sept. 1. The two-run shot off Reiss Knehr extended the Braves’ lead to 3-0.

Swanson is trying to turn around what’s been a brutal September. He was hitting .123 with two extra-base hits over 19 games entering the day. It’s always a positive sign when Swanson goes opposite field, as he did on the homer. He had a pair of singles during the Braves’ win over the Diamondbacks on Tuesday, so he’s shown signs of life recently.

“I was going to ask y’all (reporters) if you missed me because I’d been so bad for the last three weeks (and therefore wasn’t interviewed),” Swanson said. “It’s been a tough grind. But slowly and surely, I feel like I’m starting to get back to where I was the previous couple months.”

The Gold Glove contender also had a defensive gem to end the fourth inning. Swanson tracked down a grounder hit by Wil Myers and delivered a throw on the run to a stretched-out Freddie Freeman at first base.

5. Overall, the Braves lost a half-game to the Phillies on Friday. Between their split results, the Phillies defeated the Pirates. The Braves enter Saturday 1-1/2 games up in the National League East.

Stat to know

2 (Fried has two complete-game shutouts in his career. Both have come in this season’s second half.)

Quotable

“That was ace-worthy. Super ace-worthy, especially at this point in the year. You need a big game like that against a team that’s really talented and chasing the playoffs as well. To do something like that is special.” - Swanson on Fried

Up next

Huascar Ynoa (4-5, 3.43) will start for the Braves on Saturday against the Padres.