Braves hang on to win in fifth straight short start

PITTSBURGH -- Max Fried should eventually give the Braves’ rotation some much-needed stability. But it’s going to take time for him to get back to being the consistent frontline starter he has been in the past few years.

The Braves overcame Fried’s rough fourth inning and claimed a 6-5 win over the Pirates on Wednesday night at PNC Park. But the game further highlighted the recent rotation woes plaguing the team with MLB’s best record.

“We’ve just had five short starts in a row,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Hopefully, it’s like your offense, defense or bullpen. Sometimes, those little areas run into tough spots, and they just have to keep fighting through it. We’ve seen what they’re capable of, because we’ve run off a bunch of good starts in a row.”

Fried cruised through three innings, but then labored during a 30-pitch, four-run fourth inning. His pitch count was at 79 during just his second big league start since May. The Braves are more than a week out from their next day off, and they have a doubleheader on Saturday in New York.

But Snitker didn’t allow any of this to blur his focus on doing what was best to keep Fried strong and healthy over the remainder of the season. The southpaw strained his left forearm during a May 5 start and didn’t return to Atlanta’s rotation until last Friday at Wrigley Field.

“It’s about the individual,” Snitker said. “We had guys who could have pitched. There's guys you don't want to use. But it was about Max and his health and getting him through the rest of the year.”

There’s certainly no need for the Braves to press, as they own a 10 1/2-game lead over the Phillies in the NL East and stand comfortably in front of the Dodgers in the battle for the NL’s best record. But while winning a sixth straight NL East crown would be an achievement, the goal is to win a World Series for the second time in three years.

So, the question is, can the Braves win it all again, with a rotation that has produced MLB’s second-worst starting pitching ERA (6.03) since the All-Star break? The only team with a higher rotation ERA during that span is the Pirates (6.12).

“You've seen what these guys have done throughout the year,” Fried said. “They've been extremely reliable, and a big reason for our success.”

Fried was talking about Spencer Strider, Charlie Morton and Bryce Elder, all of whom have an ERA above 5.00 since the All-Star break. These three hurlers carried the load in Fried’s absence. But the Braves had to lean hard on a homer-happy offense that has helped Atlanta go 12-11 despite dealing with a leaky rotation.

This latest victory didn’t come with the assistance of the long ball. Instead, some timely hits and intelligent and aggressive baserunning from Michael Harris II proved to be the difference.

Harris was on third with one out in the eighth when Austin Riley lofted a fly ball to shallow right field. The key was whether the ball was going to be caught by right fielder Henry Davis or second baseman Jared Triolo. As soon as Harris saw that Triolo was going to make the play with his momentum going away from the plate, he ignored third base coach Ron Washington’s directions.

“So, he's telling me to fake [tagging up],” Harris said. “I'm like, ‘Nah, I'm trying to win this game, so I'm getting to the plate.’ I saw who got it.”

Harris’ heads-up play helped the Braves take the lead for good after an uncertain start from Fried, who scattered three hits through the first three innings and then allowed three singles during a long fourth. His troubles began with a one-out, five-pitch walk to Davis. They continued when a sinker got away and hit Jack Suwinski.

“I think it's just part of not pitching for a while and not being able to make the adjustments as quick as I would have liked,” Fried said. “But I thought my stuff was pretty good today.”

Had Orlando Arcia not bobbled Triolo’s grounder that became an infield single, Fried could have limited the damage to one run and taken six pitches off his pitch count.

“He’s been down for an extended period,” Snitker said. “As long as he feels good, that’s the main thing.”

Fried was dominant as he tossed six scoreless innings against the Cubs on Friday. He wasn’t as successful in his second start back from the injured list. But the good thing is, he has completed these two outings without any concern about the left forearm strain he suffered during his May 5 start.

“Now it’s about getting sharp, getting back to game speed and getting back to making the adjustments in certain situations” Fried said. “I feel like I did a really good job the last time with that last [start]. The train kind of fell off the tracks today. I’m looking to get back on [track], and I’m excited for my next one.”