Max Fried gives Braves exactly what they needed in win over Toronto
With his buddy Mike Soroka going down just 24 hours earlier, Max Fried needed to come through big for the Braves.
And Fried came through again in the clutch giving the Braves exactly what they needed.
The starting pitchers for the previous four games had combined for only 14 innings, so the Braves needed to avoid calling on the bullpen early in the game with Toronto. Remember, the Braves are still a week nine days away from a day off.
Fried pitched six solid innings and gave up only one run on four hits, with two walks and three strikeouts. He got the victory to improve to 2-0 on the season, while his ERA is now 2.04.
Fried has allowed just four runs on nine hits in 17.2 innings, with five walks and 15 strikeouts.
With Soroka gone for the year after tearing his Achilles' tendon Monday night, the Braves really need Fried to step up and lead the rotation. The more he pitches, the more Fried shows he's up to being a top-of-the-rotation pitcher.
Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos said Tuesday he believes it will be tough to immediately find help on the trade market to help replace Soroka, so the pitchers on the roster now must step up.
"The likelihood is we're going to go internal," Anthopoulos said. "That doesn't mean we're not going to continue to look and make phone calls.
"We'll continue to inquire and see if we can line up on some type of deal."
Until then, Fried will have a lot of pressure on his shoulders. He will need to continue to pitch at the high level he's performed at in his first three starts of the 2020 season.
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