ATLANTA — The Braves pulled within five games of the National League East lead with six wins over their past seven games entering Saturday. Jorge Soler was now at the top of the lineup, and Max Fried was set to come off the injured list.
Everything seemed right for Atlanta, until it suddenly didn’t.
There are no guarantees. But the Braves walked away from a 7-0 loss to the Marlins on Sunday afternoon at Truist Park knowing they squandered a prime opportunity to finally create sustained success. The momentum they created last week evaporated with consecutive losses to a last-place Miami club that dealt many of its key players before the Trade Deadline.
“Every time you get a foothold in this game, you get smacked in the mouth and you’re right back to having to get it going again,” manager Brian Snitker said. “That’s what we’ll do.”
The Braves remain atop the NL Wild Card standings, and they entered Sunday still just five games behind the first-place Phillies in the division standings. But they split a four-game set with the Marlins, who came to Atlanta having lost 15 of their past 25 games.
Adding injury to insult, the Braves were shut out at home for the first time since Logan Webb and two Giants relievers did the trick on Aug. 28, 2021. That 231-game streak is the third-longest such streak by any team during the Modern Era (since 1901), behind only the Rockies’ 361-game streak from July 5, 1999 to Sept. 17, 2003 and the Yankees’ 233-game streak from July 8, 1930 to Aug. 2, 1933.
What’s the resulting level of frustration?
“We strung some good wins together and then lost two in a row,” Braves first baseman Matt Olson said. “It’s not what you want to do. But I really don’t have an answer.”
Fried had gone 4-0 with an 0.68 ERA over the four starts he made against Miami going back to the start of 2022. The Marlins entered Sunday having gone 7-30 in games against left-handed starting pitchers this year. They ranked 29th in the Majors in batting average (.228) and last in on-base percentage (.284) and slugging percentage (.336) against southpaws.
So this seemed to be a prime time for Fried to come off the injured list to make his first start since his left elbow began bothering him as he warmed up to pitch one inning in the All-Star Game on July 16. But it didn’t take long to realize the rust might have trumped the numbers in this instance.
“Physically, I felt good,” Fried said. “I was just out of rhythm. I wasn’t able to make that adjustment when I needed.”
Fried matched a career-high with five walks over just 3 1/3 innings. He allowed five earned runs and four hits, including three in Miami’s six-run fourth. The lefty exited with two on, one out and Atlanta trailing in the fourth. Luke Jackson allowed both of those inherited runners to score courtesy of Jonah Bride’s three-run homer.
“I wanted to contribute because we’ve been playing really well and we had things rolling,” Fried said. “It’s definitely frustrating.”
Fried’s outing indicated he could have benefited from making a rehab start. Snitker acknowledged this but said he thought it was best from a long-term perspective to get the veteran back to his normal routine at the big league level as soon as possible.
Fried was throwing aggressively without limitations as the Braves concluded a four-game series in New York on July 28. But he hadn’t spent much time on the mound and hadn’t faced hitters since his brief appearance in the All-Star Game. His most recent regular-season start had been on July 11.
The positive development was that Fried wasn’t bothered by the left elbow nerve issue that had led to him being shut down a couple weeks ago.
“I came out of it, and I wasn’t feeling anything,” Fried said. “I’m definitely going to look at this one and figure out what I can do to make the adjustments.”
The Braves tallied a three-run eighth inning to claim a comeback win on Friday. They then jumped out to a 3-0 lead through Saturday’s first three innings. But an offense that benefited from Soler’s addition and the recent resurgence of both Olson and Orlando Arcia went scoreless over the final 15 innings of the series.
“I’m glad we have an off-day tomorrow so that we can get rid of this one and take a couple showers,” Snitker said.