Fried spins shortest Maddux since ... Maddux

BALTIMORE -- Through six innings, Max Fried had tossed just 63 pitches on Friday night. The southpaw had held the Orioles to just three hits, leaving them with nothing to show for it. That’s the first time the word “Maddux” started floating around Camden Yards.

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“It's something that I've always wanted to do,” said Fried after beating the Orioles 3-0, in the series opener. “I was really efficient and attacking guys. I just really wanted to keep that mentality. Just go after them, make them put the ball in play, especially with how aggressive they were early.

“Fortunately, I had Travis [d’Arnaud] back there putting down great pitch-calling signs. Also the defense behind me, I can't say enough, it was definitely a team effort.”

Fried needed just 90 pitches in the Maddux. The last Braves pitcher to achieve this feat was Shelby Miller on May 17, 2015 -- who threw 94 pitches in his version.

A Maddux describes a start in which a pitcher tosses a shutout on fewer than 100 pitches. It's named after Hall of Fame pitcher -- and former Brave -- Greg Maddux. Fried joined the ranks of two other Braves pitchers who tossed shutouts on 90 or fewer pitches (since pitch counts began being tracked in 1988): Tom Glavine and Maddux himself, who did it five times and was the last Braves pitcher to do it in 90 pitchers or fewer.

After allowing a single in the first inning, the southpaw retired eight straight batters before Trey Mancini knocked a double in the fourth. The Orioles’ first baseman was the only member of the lineup to get two hits off the Braves’ ace.

“He had the ability to throw strikes with every pitch that he had tonight,” said Orioles left fielder Austin Hays. “I haven’t looked at the numbers, but if he faced 31 hitters tonight, probably 90 percent were first-pitch strikes. He was stealing a lot of strikes early in the count with his curveball. He was pitching in really, really well. He was pitching ahead and forcing us to swing the bat.”

Looking at the numbers, Hays is a little off with his math, though it is still impressive. Fried recorded 18 first-pitch strikes to the 29 batters he faced, three of which resulted in one-pitch outs.

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Braves manager Brian Snitker joked that Fried was avoiding him in the dugout, worried that he would take him out of the game. But the skipper wasn’t messing with the pitcher or what was happening on the field.

“He was throwing in the ninth inning just like he was in the first, pretty much,” said Snitker. “Kind of could tell in the eighth inning, I told [pitching coach Rick Kranitz], ‘This kid, he wants to finish this game, the way he went out that eighth inning.’ It was good, really nice, crisp stuff.”

The lefty’s “toughest” inning was the fifth inning, in which he needed 18 pitches to get three outs. In the remaining four innings, he tossed a total of 32 pitches to record his first career shutout.

However, for Fried, the biggest challenge was a mental one he faced in the eighth.

“Realistically, I knew that I was doing really well, as far as pitch count was, down around the fifth inning,” said Fried. “I knew that it was pretty low, but I didn't think it was a real reality until I was going out there for the eighth. I hadn't gone out to the eighth so far. So, I think that was just kind of that big, that hurdle where [I said], ‘This is feasible, it's an option now.’ When I got that opportunity, I didn't want to waste it and be fine and kind of nibble around. I want to go and attack them, and kind of keep that same mentality.”

The southpaw credits his offense for getting runs on the board early, allowing him to pitch with some breathing room. Hours removed from signing a two-year extension, d’Arnaud both caught the complete game and smacked a two-run homer to get things started for the Braves. Jorge Soler couldn’t let the catcher have all the fun, recording his 17th home run of the season -- a solo shot to left-center field.

“That was so much fun,” said d’Arnaud. “All the credit goes to Max. He worked fast, executed his pitches, we had a great game plan going into today. Man, that was just so much fun. … Baseball, this game, has given so many great things to me, and I'm so thankful for this game.”