AROUND THE HORN
Braves: Pitcher Max Fried won his salary arbitration case against the World Series champion Braves and was given his $6.85 million request instead of the team’s $6.6 million offer. Walt De Treux, Robert Herman and John Woods made the decision Wednesday, a day after listening to arguments. Teams have a 9-4 advantage in decisions. Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge is the only player still scheduled for a hearing later this week. He’s asking for $21 million and the team is offering $17 million. Fried became the second Braves player to win, joining shortstop Dansby Swanson ($10 million). Outfielder Adam Duvall ($9,275,000), third baseman Austin Riley ($3.95 million) and injured reliever Luke Jackson ($3.6 million) lost their hearings. Fried, a 28-year-old left-hander, was 14-7 with a 3.04 ERA last year and was 2-2 in the postseason. After losing Game 2 of the World Series against the Astros, Fried pitched six shutout innings in Game 6 as the Braves won their first title since 1995. Fried made $3.5 million last year and is eligible for free agency after the 2024 season. He’s 7-2 with a 2.77 ERA this season. Padres: Manager Bob Melvin returned to the dugout after being sidelined by COVID-19 protocols for 11 games. “I might be the healthiest guy that you might be around ever during this whole thing right now,” Melvin said before the Padres’ series finale against the Diamondbacks. Melvin said he’s been asymptomatic for the last nine days. He went into the protocols in between games of a doubleheader June 11. He said he felt a little scratch in his throat and tested positive. “The next day I had no symptoms. I’ve had no symptoms the entire time since.” Quality control coach Ryan Flaherty managed 10 games in Melvin’s absence and bench coach Ryan Christenson was cleared from protocols in time to manage Tuesday. He went into protocols the same time as Melvin. The Padres went 6-5 in Melvin’s absence. Melvin, 60, also missed nine games after undergoing prostate surgery May 11.
Astros: Yordan Alvarez homered twice off Carlos Carrasco as the Astros jumped on him early and held on for a 5-3 win over the Mets. Alvarez hit two of the season-high three HRs Carrasco (8-3) allowed before the pitcher left with lower back tightness in the third inning with the Astros up 5-1. Alvarez, who also homered Tuesday night, now has 21 this season to move into a tie with Mike Trout for second-most in the majors. His HR barrage in this series comes after he missed Sunday’s game with a minor hand injury. The 24-year-old Alvarez leads all players with a 1.064 OPS and has hit nine HRs in his last 20 games. Alex Bregman added a two-run HR for the Astros, who won their third straight in sweeping the series against the NL East leaders. Astros starter Luis García (5-5) yielded six hits and three runs with five strikeouts in five-plus innings for the win. Ryan Pressly pitched a scoreless ninth for his 14th save.
Brewers: Former Brewers OF Lorenzo Cain cleared waivers and is now a free agent. The Brewers made the announcement four days after the two-time All-Star was designated for assignment. The Brewers’ tweet included the message, “Thank you, Lo!” and was accompanied by a video showing some of Cain’s greatest highlights with the franchise. Cain, 36, was designated on the same day he reached 10 years of major league service, enabling him to be fully vested in the players’ pension fund. He’s hitting .179 with one HR and nine RBIs in 43 games this season.