Sept. 11 – The Atlanta Braves will be looking for a much-needed win in a two-game set against the Washington Nationals on Wednesday.
Atlanta (79-66) beat Washington 12-0 on Tuesday night, while the New York Mets lost to the Toronto Blue Jays to fall into a tie between the teams for the third and final National League wild-card spot. The Braves will host the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers in a four-game set starting Friday.
Atlanta left-hander Max Fried (9-8, 3.35 ERA) will face Washington right-hander Jake Owen (9-12, 4.28) on Wednesday.
Fried has given up no more than three hits in each of his last five starts. He allowed just one run on five hits in seven innings in a 3-1 win over the Blue Jays on Friday. He gave up one walk and struck out eight.
“That’s the Max we know,” catcher Travis d’Arnaud said after that game, “He’s not afraid of anybody. He just attacks people and isn’t afraid of contact. He did a great job today.”
Success at the end of the season is nothing new for Fried. For his career, he went 13-5 with a 2.40 ERA in the regular season, including September and October.
Against Washington, Fried went 8-4 with a 3.83 ERA in 18 games and 17 starts. That record includes eight scoreless innings in a 2-0 win on May 28.
Irving has been struggling lately. He has given up a combined 13 runs in 9 2/3 innings over his last two starts, including six runs in five innings in Thursday’s loss to the Pirates, when he gave up seven hits and three walks.
He was tagged for five runs after taking a 3-0 lead in the second quarter. He gave up seven runs in the second inning in his last start against the Chicago Cubs.
“That’s something we’ve been trying to limit all year,” Irving said of the big picture. “I think I’ve done a really bad job setting up the fastball. That’s something that keeps guys honest on off-speed pitches.”
Irving had a 1-1 record with a 3.15 ERA four times against the Braves in his career. He pitched six scoreless innings and struck out 10 against Atlanta on May 28, and in three games against the Braves this year is 1-0 with an ERA of 1.04.
Michael Harris II hit two home runs on Tuesday and Orlando Arcia and Sean Murphy also hit deep for Atlanta. The Braves had hit just three home runs in eight games this month before Tuesday. Harris, Matt Olson and Ramon Laureano each had three hits.
The news isn’t good for Atlanta. Starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez had to leave the game after one inning because of right shoulder soreness and will undergo an MRI on Wednesday.
“He wanted to keep going, but when he started going, he didn’t feel good. It was a little unusual. But we’ll know more once they look at him a little closer,” manager Brian Snitker said.
Jesse Chavez entered in the second inning and pitched three scoreless innings, allowing only one hit in the win. John Brebbia added three scoreless innings, combining to hold four Braves pitchers to three hits.
José Tena had two doubles for the Nationals.
MacKenzie Gore lasted only 3 2/3 innings and gave up seven runs, but Washington committed two defensive errors and gave up only two earned runs.
“They didn’t pitch well. We didn’t hit the ball well,” Nationals head coach Dave Martinez said. “It was a one-sided game.”
——Visual-level media
