ATLANTA – With the Atlanta Braves closing in on another division championship, Max Fried wanted to pick up where Charlie Morton left off the night before on the mound.
“I think it just kind of alleviated any kind of stress or anxiety coming into it, just knowing that he went out there and laid everything on the line and had such a good start,” Fried said. “I just wanted to follow that up.”
Fried pitched seven strong innings and Austin Riley drove in three runs as Atlanta beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2 on Wednesday night to move within one victory of a fourth straight National League East title.
The Braves have won nine of their past 11 games and reduced their magic number to one. Philadelphia, which dropped 4 1/2 games back in the standings with its third straight loss, can be eliminated from postseason contention with one loss or one Atlanta win. The teams conclude their three-game series Thursday night at Truist Park, and each has three games left after that as the Braves host the New York Mets and the Phillies visit the Miami Marlins to close the regular season.
Fried (14-7) improved to 7-0 with a 1.46 ERA over his past 11 starts, and the Braves are 10-1 in those games. The 27-year-old left-hander allowed two runs (one earned) and four hits with no walks and six strikeouts on Wednesday.