Maximum Fried: Braves back at .500 after toppling Padres, 5-1

When Max Fried was traded from the Padres to the Braves in late 2014, it probably crossed his mind that he would one day have to face his former club. He finally got the opportunity on Wednesday night, and he made the most of it.

Fried went seven strong innings, striking out seven and walking none while allowing only one run en route to a 5-1 Braves victory. It was his longest outing of the year. Aside from his nearly perfect outing against the Cubs on April 4, it was his also best performance. He lowered his ERA to 2.11 (3.37 FIP), and his walk rate now sits at a sparkling 1.64 BB/9. We have all started to see just how special Fried can be when he’s on, and it would be a bit of an understatement to say he was on against San Diego. His curveball was remarkable as usual, and multiple Padres hitters took turns looking like Minor Leaguers.

With this victory, the Braves pull back to .500, at 15-15. With the Mets loss to the Reds, the Braves are now tied for second place in the NL East.

San Diego starter Cal Quantrill had a very respectable MLB debut in opposition, going 5⅔ innings and allowing only two earned runs. On any other night, he might have been able to get the win. The Padres have to be pleased with what they’ve seen from their rookie starters early in the season, but particularly in this series.

The Braves jumped out an early lead, manufacturing a run off an Ozzie Albies leadoff triple and a subsequent sac fly from Dansby Swanson. As Quantrill logged his first big league out, he also allowed his first run.

Both pitchers cruised into the fourth inning, until Manny Machado evened the score at 1 with a line drive homer off Fried. It was a low line drive to center, but one that was hit hard enough to make you wonder whether it would actually clear the fence. Alas, it did. Shortly after the HR, Fried appeared to be nursing a small blister on his left pinky finger, but it didn’t appear to alter his stuff in any way.

In the fifth, Atlanta finally broke through with a runner in scoring position. After Ender Inciarte doubled into the left field gap - it’s always a good sign when he does that - Albies slapped what would be a single for most players into center, but he was bolting right out of the box and took second. Inciarte crossing the plate gave Fried a 2-1 lead.

The Braves got a bit more breathing room in the seventh inning. Charlie Culberson reached on Machado error and took second when the throw sailed into the dugout. An Inciarte groundout moved Culberson to third, and in what must have been a tough decision for Brian Snitker, he pulled Fried after 85 pitches in lieu of pinch hitter Ronald Acuña, Jr. The gambit paid off, as Acuña, Jr.’s infield single scored Culberson and stretched the lead to 3-1. Two batters later, the Braves took a 5-1 lead on this pretty little tater by Dansby.

It was a good thing they padded the lead, too - because once Jacob Webb came on for the eighth inning, things got interesting quickly. After a leadoff single to Ian Kinsler, consecutive walks to Greg Garcia and Wil Myers loaded the bases for human mountain Franmil Reyes. Snit wasted no time in pulling Webb for Josh Tomlin.

As all of our heartbeats hovered around 250 beats per minute, Tomlin mowed through the heart of the Padres order with ease, inducing a tap back to the mound from Reyes and striking out Machado and Hunter Renfroe. For as many bullpen implosions as we have witnessed in the early part of this season, it was refreshing to see someone dominate three strong hitters like that with the bases loaded. More of that, please.

A.J. Minter worked a non-eventful ninth inning and the Braves took this one to the house. I don’t know about you, but I’m already looking forward to the next time Fried pitches.

These two teams will finish up the series tomorrow afternoon, with the first pitch slated for 12:10pm ET.