Fried exits scoreless gem to 'emotional' standing ovation 

ATLANTA -- Max Fried acknowledged the raucous standing ovation and entered the dugout hoping this wouldn’t be the last of the many gems he has produced over the years for the Braves.

“Walking off and hearing that, it was emotional,” Fried said. “I’m extremely thankful and very grateful.”

Once the offseason arrives, there will be reason to question where Fried might land via free agency. But as the veteran lefty finished one out shy of a shutout in a 3-0 win over the Royals on Friday night at Truist Park, his thoughts were focused on doing whatever possible to push the Braves into the postseason and extend his time with the only big league club he has known.

“We’ve seen Max do that how many times, when we need him, and just have the game of his life,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “You could pretty much tell. When I saw that first inning, I was like this is going to be a good one.”

Fried notched two of his nine strikeouts during a perfect first inning and entered the ninth inning bidding for a two-hit shutout. His bid ended when Bobby Witt Jr. drew a two-out walk and then raced to third on Michael Massey’s double. Raisel Iglesias entered and needed just one pitch to record the final out.

“That was awesome,” Braves catcher Sean Murphy said. “You couldn’t ask for more.”

Murphy’s two-run homer in the fourth proved decisive for the Braves, who are now tied with the Mets and D-backs in the battle for the National League’s final two Wild Card spots. The final spots could be determined when the Braves host a doubleheader against the Mets on Monday.

“This is what we play for, meaningful baseball in September,” Fried said. “We’ve got a really great group in there that believes and is extremely talented. I’m confident we’re going to be winning a lot of games and getting to the playoffs.”

One of the best products of the massive rebuild the Braves undertook nearly a decade ago, Fried debuted with Atlanta in 2017 and spent the next few years establishing himself as one of the game’s top starters. He’ll always be remembered for the six scoreless innings he provided to clinch the 2021 World Series with a Game 6 win over the Astros.

But he’s hoping to add to his most memorable postseason moments.

“We had to win this game and I just wanted to make sure I left everything out there,” Fried said. “This was a big game. We needed to win and we need to win every single game the rest of the year. So, I just wanted to make sure I gave my best performance.”

The only hits Fried surrendered before the ninth were Massey’s sixth-inning double and Witt’s infield single in the fourth. Witt got down the line at 31.5 ft./sec., which is tied for the fastest sprint speed (Elly De La Cruz) recorded at Truist Park this season.

It looked like Fried was going to notch another "Maddux", which is any shutout of at least nine innings on fewer than 100 pitches. Greg Maddux himself constructed 13 of them, including 10 times while with the Braves.

Fried notched his third when he needed just 92 pitches to blank the Marlins on April 23. He entered Friday’s ninth inning having thrown just 83 pitches.

“He was on a mission,” Snitker said. “He came out of the seventh [inning] and it was kind of like, ‘I feel good, do what you have to do.’ He came off after the eighth and said, ‘I’m good, I want this.’ So, I said, ‘Go ahead.’”

Fried throwing a shutout in what might have been his final start for the Braves would have been great, but falling one out short provided the fans the chance to show their appreciation for a pitcher they hope to continue supporting this year and beyond.

And it gave the pitcher a chance to also say thanks.

“[The fans] motivate us a lot and make us dig deeper when we might think we don’t have it,” Fried said. “The belief and energy helps lift us to do things we didn’t think we could do in that moment.”