Who knows what the future holds for Max Fried as he’s set to test free agency at season’s end. But if this is indeed his final year with the Braves, he’s saving his best stuff for last.
In a game the Braves had to have to keep pressure on the Mets and Diamondbacks in the Wild Card race, Fried delivered one of the best performances of his already incredible career, tossing 8.2 innings of shutout ball, and it looked like he was well on his way to a Maddux (a complete game shutout under 100 pitches) before the Royals finally got something going with two outs in the ninth.
A walk to Bobby Witt Jr. followed by a double was just enough to get Brian Snitker out of his chair with a three-run lead, turning to Raisel Iglesias for the final out, who only needed one pitch to seal the save.
The Braves offense didn’t do too much, but a laser off the bat of Sean Murphy over the left field wall gave Fried a two-run lead, and that was more than enough. The southpaw was in one of his zones he seems to always find in the biggest of moments, and if it does turn out to be his last game at Truist Park, what a helluva way to cap off his Braves career.
Hopefully, it isn’t. The Braves finally seem to be playing some complementary baseball. The pitching staff, which has carried the team the entire season, has even taken it to another level, and the bats are finally starting to wake up at the right time. This is not a club any team wants to face right now, and by the end of the night, they could be tied for one of the final spots in the National League Wild Card race.
Oh, and Marcell Ozuna stole a base. It was his first stolen base of the season, and it led to a much-needed insurance run.
He’s still got it. Five tool athlete pic.twitter.com/zF4ZvM3amP
— SportsTalkATL.com (@SportsTalkATL) September 28, 2024
That should tell you how things are going right now. After five months of spinning their tires, it finally feels like things are clicking for the Braves, a scary for thought for the rest of the league as October approaches.
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Photo: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
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