Fried dominant as Braves defeat Rays
ATLANTA — Max
Fried retired the first
14 batters he faced and combined with three relievers on a four-hitter as the Atlanta Braves beat the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 on Thursday night.
Dansby Swanson had a run-scoring single in Atlanta’s tworun second inning.
Fried (1-0) struck out seven batters and walked one while allowing one run in 6
2/3 innings. The lefthander improved to 4-0 in four interleague starts.
Atlanta’s Luke Jackson and Shane Greene combined for four outs before Mark Melancon pitched the ninth for his second save.
Left fielder Adam Duvall made a diving catch on the warning track of José Martinez’s drive off Melancon to open the ninth. Brandon Lowe singled before pinch-runner Kevin Kiermaier was caught stealing without a slide on Tyler Flowers’ throw to second base. Melancon struck out Hunter Renfroe to end it.
The 26-year-old Fried struck out the side in the first inning to set the pace for his dominant start.
Ryan Yarbrough (0-1) allowed two runs on only two hits with three walks in 6 1/3 innings.
The Braves won two home games over the Rays after losing two in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Fried was perfect before Mike Brosseau hit a single up the middle with two outs in the fifth. Fried picked Brosseau off first base to end the inning.
After Willy Adames’ two-out double off Fried in the seventh, pinch-hitter Ji-Man Choi hit Jackson’s first pitch to right field for a run-scoring single.
Swanson’s second-inning single drove in Marcell Ozuna, who singled and moved to second when Duvall was hit by a pitch. Ozuna scored with a head-first slide as he avoided Mike Zunino’s tag at the plate by reaching his hand to the plate.
Austin Riley’s sacrifice fly drove in Duvall.
The Braves’ two early runs placed Tampa Bay in a familiar position. The Rays have trailed in five straight games and six of their first seven.