With six wins in their last seven games, the Braves had closed to within five games of the National League East lead entering Saturday.
Jorge Soler was now at the top of the lineup, while Max Fried was poised to return off the injury list.
Everything looked to be going well for Atlanta, until it didn’t.
There are no assurances. However, the Braves walked away from their 7-0 loss to the Marlins on Sunday afternoon at Truist Park knowing they had lost a golden opportunity to ultimately achieve long-term success. The momentum they built last week was dashed with consecutive losses to a last-place Miami team that traded several 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 rankings, and they entered Sunday just five games behind the division-leading Phillies. However, they split a four-game series with the Marlins, who arrived to Atlanta having lost 15 of their previous 25 games.
To add insult to injury, the Braves were shut out at home for the first time since August 28, 2021, when Logan Webb and two Giants relievers did the task. This 231-game record is the third-longest by any team in the Modern Era (since 1901), trailing only the Rockies’ 361-game streak from July 5, 1999 to September 17, 2003 and the Yankees’ 233-game streak from July 8, 1930 to August 2, 1933.
What is the ensuing level of frustration?
“We strung some good wins together and then lost two in a row,” Braves first baseman Matt Olson said. “This is not what you want to do. But I honestly 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 appeared to be an ideal opportunity for Fried to return from the injured list and make his first start since his left elbow began bothering him while warming up to pitch one inning in the All-Star Game on July 16. But it didn’t take long to see that rust may have trumped the data in this case.
“Physically, I felt good,” Fried explained. “I was simply out of rhythm. I wasn’t able to make the necessary adjustments.”
Fried walked five times in 3 1/3 innings, matching his career high. He gave up five earned runs on four hits, three of which came in Miami’s six-run fourth inning. The lefty left with two on, one out, and Atlanta trailing in the fourth. Jonah Bride’s three-run homer enabled both of those inherited runners to score, thanks to Luke Jackson.
“I wanted to contribute because we’ve been playing really well and we had things rolling,” Fried informed the audience. “It’s definitely frustrating.”
Fried’s performance indicated that he could have benefited from a rehab start. Snitker acknowledged this, but stated that he believed it was best in the long run to get the veteran back to his normal routine at the major league level as quickly as possible.
Fried was throwing aggressively with no constraints when the Braves finished a four-game series in New York on July 28. However, he had not spent much time on the mound and had not faced batters since his brief stint in the All-Star Game. His most recent regular-season start had been on July 11.
The good news was that Fried wasn’t affected by the left elbow nerve problem that had caused him to be put down a few weeks before.
“I came out of it, and I wasn’t feeling anything,” Fried explained. “I’m definitely going to look at this one and figure out what I can do to make the adjustments.”
On Friday, the Braves won after rallying with three runs in the eighth inning. They subsequently took a 3-0 lead through Saturday’s opening three innings. However, an offense that benefited from Soler’s acquisition and the recent resurrection of both Olson and Orlando Arcia remained scoreless in the series’ last 15 innings.
“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.
