Braves Briefing: Atlanta readies for an eleven-game road stretch

The Atlanta Braves have the most wins in baseball but will face an uphill battle over the next two weeks as they begin an 11-game road streak Friday.

Starting this afternoon at 2:20 ET, they face the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field for a three-game series, then head to Pittsburgh for a four-game series against the Pirates, then wrap up the road trip with a four-game series visiting the NL East Rival New York Mets.

Looking at purely a record standpoint, the Cubs are the only team with a winning record of the three opponents and should offer the biggest test.

Max Fried is expected to make his return on Friday. Perhaps his return will help the rest of Atlanta's rotation moving forward.

NL East Standings

Team	Record	GB	Action Today
Atlanta	69-37	-	@ CHC
Philadelphia	59-50	11.5	Hosts KC
Miami	58-52	13.0	@ Texas
NYM	50-58	20.0	@ Baltimore
Washington	40-63	24.5	@ Cincinnati

We wrote it

Lindsay Crosby wrote our report regarding the confirmation that Max Fried will return to start against the Cubs.

"Max will pitch" when asked about who Friday's starter was, confirming what he mentioned to Joe Simpson on "The Brian Snitker Report" before Wednesday's game.
Snitker elaborated as to what adding someone like Max Fried can do for a team. "It's awesome. Can't wait to get him out there and get him back in the swing of things too. It's gonna be really, really good. Just like we got AJ (Minter) back - that's like making two really, really big trades for us. They've been out a long time, and that's two pretty good players to get back."
Fried completed his 4th rehab start last Saturday, throwing over 70 pitches. It's believed he won't have any sort of restrictions on his outing this Friday.

What's Next?

After the Braves had an off day on Thursday, then will start a three-game set with the Chicago Cubs, who have been hot lately. This first game of the series will be played on Friday at 2:20 ET from Chicago's Wrigley Field.

The game broadcast, with Voice of the Braves Brandon Gaudin, is available inside Braves Country on Bally Sports South and is available on MLB.TV outside of the broadcast area. The radio call, with Ben Ingram, is available locally on 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan or outside the Atlanta market on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network or MLB.com.

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