Max Fried came close to a no-hitter and remains the top pitcher for the Atlanta Braves. He carried his latest no-hit id into the sixth inning as the Braves won 9-2 over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night. Fried has kept his opponent hitless through the first five innings of his past three starts. He only needed 53 pitches to cruise through the first five innings in perfection. His bid for history came to end in the sixth inning thanks to an Ian Happ double.
“When he’s not doing well, he knows how to fix it really quick, ” Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud said to Mark Bowman of MLB.com. “He knows himself as a pitcher and he doesn’t try to do too much. I think those are the characteristics of an ace and he’s definitely there.”
Fried needed nine pitches to get through the ninth to put an end to his 105-pitch effort. It’s what the Braves needed to rest the bullpen and for Fried, he did more than throw just his second complete game of the season.
Max Fried Gives the Braves Two Complete Games
The left-hander put together another dominant start as he now has two complete games in his first ten starts of the season. He’s the first to do so since Nathan Eovaldi last season, the first lefty to since James Paxton in 2019 and the first Braves first since Shelby Miller in 2015 to do so.
Max Fried now has 2 complete games in his first 10 starts this season.
*He’s the first to do so since Nathan Eovaldi last season.
*He’s the first lefty to do so since James Paxton in 2018.
*He’s the first Braves pitcher to do so since Shelby Miller in 2015.
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“I pride myself on going deep into games,” Fried said. “The nights when you’re efficient and you’re not wasting pitches, it’s more about putting your foot on the gas pedal. Just keep it going, rather than thinking about it or waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
Fried tossed six hitless innings against the Seattle Mariners on April 29. The combined no-hitter ended in the eighth. The Braves All-Star kept the New York Mets hitless before leaving in the seventh inning on May 11. J.D. Martinez‘s two-out homer in the ninth ended that altogether.
Fried is Dominant on the Road
While allowing three hits and no walks with nine strikeouts, 72 of Fried’s pitches were thrown for strikes. Per OptaSTATS, Fried has held hitters to a 0.75 batting average over his last four road starts. It’s the lowest batting average allowed by any MLB pitcher over a span of four road starts in the modern era (minimum 100 batters faced). Those four stats took place in front of a combined 155,688 fans.
Fried has improved to 6-0 with a 1.18 ERA in six career starts against the Cubs. He’s gone at least seven innings in three of his last four outings, posting a 23:9 K:BB over that span.
