Takeaways: Max Fried Superb as Atlanta Braves Take Down the Dodgers
Max Fried showed why he's still one of the best pitchers in all of baseball on Friday night as he dominated the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 6-3 win.
In a matchup of two of the best lefty starters in baseball on Friday night between Max Fried and Julio Urias, Fried showed he's a step above the rest.
Ronald Acuna Jr. continued to improve his MVP resume with another great game in Los Angeles.
Maximum Fried
Coming back from an extended stint on the injured list, Max Fried has been really good, but it still felt like he was trying to figure some things out.
The lefty seemed to put it all together on Friday night against a Dodgers team that he's had a lot of success against in his career.
Fried tossed 7 shutout innings allowing just 3 hits and 2 walks with 10 strikeouts.
It was his first double-digit strikeout performance since August 30, 2019.
An Offensive Onslaught
Urias came into Friday night's game with a home ERA near 2 for this season and the Braves jumped him for 5 runs on 9 hits and 2 walks in 5 innings.
Overall, the offense scored 6 runs on 14 hits and 2 walks. They scored in 5 different innings but didn't really have that big inning -- perhaps due to some questionable baserunning.
But still, they were 6-11 with runners in scoring position and put pressure on the pitcher throughout.
Clean up the little things
As good as this Braves team is, there are certainly some things that need to be cleaned up -- primarily walks and defense.
In each of these first two games, they've made it more difficult than it needs to be because of walks and misplays defensively.
The bigger issue has been walks, but a bad play by Ozzie Albies led to the Dodgers getting 3 runs on Friday and helped them get the tying run to the plate.
This offense can overcome a lot, but if there are a couple of areas the Braves should be looking to clean up down the stretch and into the postseason it's their defense at second, first, and left field and walks by the bullpen.
The Braves will try to win the series on Saturday with Bryce Elder taking the ball at 9:10 PM ET.
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