PITTSBURGH – Max Fried spun a gem as the Braves handled the Pirates, 6-1, to win the series at PNC Park. Atlanta is 77-48.
Here are five observations:
1. On the mound, Fried is quiet and calm. He might be a fiery competitor, but he always appears relaxed and unfazed.
He seems naturally composed, but this has not always been the case.
“No, not at all,” he said after the game. “I think it just comes with experience of just being able to know that I’ve been in situations before. The more worked up or anxious or overthinking that you get, it distracts you from what you need to do – and that’s just make the next pitch. If I just kind of have that one-pitch-at-a-time mentality, it kind of just focuses me back, puts me in the present.”
Atlanta’s ace put together an incredible night: Eight innings, three hits, one run, one walk and seven strikeouts on 95 pitches. He outclassed one of baseball’s worst lineups, but the Pirates’ standing does not detract from Fried’s accomplishment.
“It’s incredible,” said Robbie Grossman, acquired from Detroit at the deadline. “Just from afar, knew he was a good pitcher, knew he had good stuff. You want to see what happens behind the scenes and how he goes about his day and how he prepares. I can’t compare it to anyone else because it’s up there from the best.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
2. Tuesday was, without question, one of the best starts of Fried’s career if you look at his line.
But his stuff?
“The stuff wasn’t quite as sharp as it normally is, but man, he was really pitching,” manager Brian Snitker said.
Fried did not have a great pregame bullpen session. “Probably worried a couple people,” he said about it, “but that’s where you just got to kind of dig deep and say you just got to attack and compete.” And he did just that.
Last season, Fried threw two complete-game shutouts: One in Baltimore in August, the other in San Diego in September. In June of this year, he hurled eight shutout innings at Coors Field, known as a hitter’s heaven and a pitcher’s nightmare. Tuesday’s performance came without his best stuff.
“It just shows how mature (he is), where he’s come from,” Snitker said. “It’s not going to be just spot on all the time. But man, when you can spin the ball like he can and command the ball, you don’t have to be (spot on) to win – which is good. That’s what the good ones do.
3. The Braves started the top of the fifth inning like this: Home run, single, double, single, single, single.
By the time they made their first out, the Braves, who had trailed by a run, led by three.
Before this, the Braves had one hit. They had struck out six times versus Pittsburgh’s JT Brubaker. But this is a lineup that can turn deficits into comfortable leads. And once again, the bottom of the lineup led the charge.
“You just have no breaks, right?” Fried said. “Every single guy that’s going up there is a threat to either take you deep or get a base hit or get on base to steal a base. It just (makes) your margin for error that much less. It puts a lot of pressure on you, especially when they’re due for big innings.”
Travis d’Arnaud led off the inning with a 409-foot solo home run. William Contreras singled and Michael Harris doubled. Vaughn Grissom and Robbie Grossman each hit a run-scoring single. Later in the inning, Dansby Swanson’s grounder scored a run, as did Austin Riley’s sacrifice fly.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
4. The Braves won five of seven games against two World Series contenders in their last homestand. Yet, they have still shown up against one of the sport’s worst clubs.
There has not been a letdown.
“It’s great, because it could very well happen when you play a week like we just did and you come on the road,” Snitker said. “You expend a lot of energy in that way. All the games went down to the very end.”
5. The Braves have won five straight series. Since the beginning of June, they are 16-5-1 in series.
Atlanta goes for the sweep on Wednesday, with its NL East deficit down to two games. The Mets lost to the Yankees 4-2.
Stat to know
20 - Brubaker only threw 20 pitches in the fifth inning, but Atlanta scored five runs.
Quotable
“We’ve been in this position, a lot of us, for a couple of years now, and we know that what’s happened in the past or how we played doesn’t really matter – it’s all about winning today’s game. We know that any team is capable of beating anyone on any given day, and we want to go out there and just play our brand of baseball, which is (playing) hard and try to make the right play, not make mistakes, and try to just win the game.” - Fried on not having a letdown after a successful homestand
Up next
Kyle Wright will start Wednesday’s series finale, which begins at 12:35 p.m., for the Braves, who will face right-hander Mitch Keller.
