Max Fried dominates for wild card-contending Braves in 3-1 win over Blue Jays

ATLANTA (AP) — Max Fried pitched seven strong innings and the Atlanta Braves beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 on Friday night.

Atlanta remained tied with the Mets for the final NL wild-card spot as New York beat Cincinnati 6-4.

“All I think about is that we need to win tomorrow,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “The most important thing we are going to do is play tomorrow’s game. We have to take each and every day separately and do it again the next day.”

Fried (9-8) had command of the plate all night, striking out eight and allowing just five hits. Toronto's lone run was unearned, coming in the third inning on an Atlanta error.

"I think I’ve just been building off each of my last couple of outings,” Fried said. “I’ve been able to command the ball a lot better and I’ve been putting my fastballs in areas where I’m not getting beat too bad.”

It marked the 25th straight game Atlanta pitchers have allowed three runs or fewer, the longest such streak in baseball this season and the longest in Braves franchise history.

“It’s not surprising knowing the group that we have,” Fried said. “Every night, each of our starters are confident that we can go out there and win a game and go deep into the game.”

Raisel Iglesias pitched out of trouble in the ninth for his 31st save in 34 opportunities, extending his scoreless streak to 24 1/3 innings.

“He (Iglesias) is about as good as I've been around,” Snitker said. “In my tenure here, we've had some really good, Hall-of-Fame quality closers, and he's right there with all of those guys what he is doing right now.”

The Braves got out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning and never looked back. Jarred Kelenic, Gio Urshela and Michael Harris II had RBI singles.

This was Atlanta's first win against Toronto since Aug. 6, 2020. The Blue Jays previously held a nine-game winning streak against the Braves, including a sweep of Atlanta in 2021.

Toronto starter Kevin Gausman (12-11) gave up three runs and six hits in six innings while walking three and striking out five. Prior to the loss, Gausman held the mark for fourth lowest ERA on the road in the AL this season at 2.52.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., drove in Toronto's only run.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: INF Bo Bichette (calf strain) is set to join Triple-A Buffalo on Tuesday for a rehab stint before returning to the Toronto lineup.

Braves: INF Whit Merrifield returned to the lineup Friday after missing two games due to a concussion from taking a pitch to the back of the head, but left the game early after fouling a ball off of his left foot.

UP NEXT

Braves rookie RHP Spencer Schwellenbach (5-6, 3.69) will start against Blue Jays RHP José Berríos (14-9, 3.59).