A long rain delay forced Max Fried out of a great start that included five hitless innings, but couldn’t break the Braves’ offensive stride as they overwhelmed Miami en route to a 7-1 win and a three-game sweep. With the Mets randomly dropping another game against the Nationals, the Braves’ deficit in the NL East is down a single, measly game.
Fried had a lot of command trouble last time out against the Rockies, but was back in fine, best-pitcher-in-the-league-type form in this game early, bamboozling the Marlins into both whiffs and weak contact. Fried retired the first 12 batters he faced without much effort — he allowed just one hard-hit ball and one ball with a hit probability over 18 percent across those batters, including striking out the side in the fourth.