Max Fried in top form as Braves open series vs. Padres.
Atlanta Braves ace Max Fried will try to build on some recent dominating outings on Friday in the opener a four-game homestand against the San Diego Padres.
The left-hander pitched seven no-hit innings against the New York Mets on Saturday and has not allowed a run in three of his last four games. That includes a shutout against the Miami Marlins on April 23, followed by six no-hit innings April 29 versus the Seattle Mariners.
Fried (3-1, 3.57 ERA) will be opposed by Padres right-hander Matt Waldron (1-5, 5.49) in the first meeting between the teams this season. The Padres won four of the seven games against the Braves last year.
Fried walked three and struck out five against the Mets, but left in the midst of throwing a no-hitter after 109 pitches and did not exactly give the outing rave reviews.
“Frankly, I was not very good with my command at all,” Fried said in a nod to the high pitch count. “I was just trying to keep us in the game as long as possible.”
Fried has enjoyed great deal of success in his career against San Diego, the team that chose him in the first round of the 2012 draft. He was traded to Atlanta in December 2014.
In four career starts against the Padres, Fried is 3-0 with a 1.67 ERA. In his lone appearance versus San Diego last year, he delivered five scoreless innings in an early-season win when he was limited to 79 pitches.
Waldron, a knuckleballer, will make his ninth start of the season. He took the loss in his last appearance Saturday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, allowing two runs on two hits, two walks and six strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. Waldron has never faced the Braves.
Neither team played on Thursday.
The Braves have won six of their last eight and are 2-1 on a seven-game homestand after a 7-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday. The Padres were swept at home in a three-game series by the last-place but surging Colorado Rockies. San Diego lost 8-0 on Wednesday.
