Fried holds Fish hitless for 5 -- but rain halts no-hit bid

ATLANTA -- Max Fried was swiftly mowing down Miami hitters, but inclement weather rained on his parade in his attempt at history.

The left-hander tossed five innings without allowing a hit, allowing only a sole walk in the fifth while fanning six batters. He quickly erased his only baserunner of the game with an inning-ending double play -- and it was perfectly timed.

"[Fried's] just got good stuff," Marlins second baseman Joey Wendle said. "He gave us pitches to hit, but his stuff kind of just took care of us, kept us off-balance. Obviously, we weren't able to do anything with him other than a walk."

As soon as Fried reached the dugout, the sky opened up to let out a downpour of rain, temporarily halting the Braves' contest against the Marlins. The game had the potential to end there as the double play ended the top of the fifth inning at Truist Park with Miami trailing, making it an official game had the weather not allowed the teams to continue playing.

The 28-year-old Fried would have become the 27th pitcher to throw a complete game without allowing a hit in a game that went fewer than nine innings (since 1901). The most recent instance came against the Braves when Madison Bumgarner didn't allow a hit in a seven-inning complete game in the second game of a doubleheader on April 25, 2021.

"I knew that rain was in the forecast; I just wish we would've held off a little bit longer," Fried said. "Not looking too much into it, just glad that I was able to get through five and then get a win. This time of year, it's all about just winning baseball games, so if I'm going out there and we won the game, I'm doing my job.

"I think that might be the first outing that I've thrown that ended with no hits. So it's a first, but I would have loved to see how deep I could have [gone in] the game with it."

Instead, after a one-hour and 51-minute rain delay, the game resumed, and the Braves bullpen worked the final four innings in a 7-1 win over the Marlins, moving Atlanta to within a game of the first-place Mets in the National League East. The delay that forced Fried out of the game ended his six-game streak of pitching six or more innings.

"It seems like the bigger the moment, the bigger he steps up," said teammate and NL MVP candidate Austin Riley. "He's just done a phenomenal job this year. He's turned himself into a true ace."

The scoreless outing improved Fried's ERA to 2.48 (seventh in the Majors) over 163 1/3 innings (10th in MLB), all while fanning 149 batters and racking up a 13-5 record.

"He's incredible," said teammate Kyle Wright, who leads the Majors with 17 wins. "That's Max. That's what he does. So, a lot of fun to watch again. [I] wish the rain would have held off just so we get to see how far he could have taken that thing, but still impressive nonetheless."

After sweeping Miami, the Braves pitching staff is at the top of its game with three more non-divisional series before facing strictly NL East opponents down the stretch, starting Sept. 16 against the Phillies.

"That was a pretty good homestand," manager Brian Snitker said. "Our pitching was really good, the bullpen did really good, had some really good starts. That's what we need to do this time of year. ... Hopefully, we keep rolling."

Atlanta ranks first in the Majors in strikeouts (1,292) and saves (45), as well as fourth in opponents' batting average (.228), fifth in ERA (3.44) and tied for third in home runs allowed (118).

The trust between the starting rotation and the bullpen is the key to the team's success on the mound.

"I feel like it frees us up as pitchers," Wright said about the faith in the bullpen. "We can just go out there, be ourselves and go for as long as we possibly can. And we know we have those guys behind us to pick us up or shut it down. We have so much confidence in them, which gives us a lot of confidence to not be too fine, attack hitters and keep everyone involved and engaged. Those guys are so valuable, and you really can't say enough good things about them."