ATLANTA -- Max Fried has earned the right to be pushed a little longer than the average pitcher. But after the Braves' veteran labored through the first five innings of an 8-6 loss to the Phillies on Friday night at Truist Park, there was reason to question why he was allowed to face Phillies shortstop Trea Turner a third time.

“Max has never been one of those guys that I’m worried about [facing a lineup] the third time through,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He always has a way of making pitches. When it doesn’t work … ”

Turner’s two-run homer in the sixth inning sailed a little farther than the one he hit against Fried in the fourth inning. More importantly, it was the crushing blow in a series opener that only added to the frustration the Braves have felt as they have attempted to at least stay within striking distance of the Phillies in the National League East.

“The season isn’t over,” Braves third baseman Austin Riley said. “You can’t feel sorry for yourself. You’ve got to continue to go out there and put your best foot forward.”

Instead of creating some much-needed momentum, the Braves fell 10 games behind the front-running Phillies. Atlanta's bid to win a seventh straight division title has become more unlikely as it has lost 26 of 47 games going back to May 15. Philadelphia has won 28 of 45 within that same span.

Fried took the mound looking to get this weekend started in auspicious fashion. But he surrendered 10 hits through the first four innings. Even with a perfect fifth, he entered the sixth having thrown 88 pitches.

Letting Fried begin the sixth made sense. He started with a flyout vs. Cristian Pache and then had a lefty vs. lefty matchup against Bryson Stott. But keeping Fried in the game following an eight-pitch walk to Stott was questionable. He had thrown 97 pitches when Turner strolled toward the plate.

Braves bullpen coach Erick Abreu is serving as the pitching coach while Rick Kranitz deals with a family matter. It looked like Abreu wanted to talk to Fried. But he stopped and quickly went back down the dugout stairs.

“He was on the phone [with the bullpen],” Snitker said. “By the time he was ready to go out there, it was too late.”

Turner responded by drilling an 0-1 slider deep into the left-field seats. The 459-foot home run gave the Phillies a 5-2 lead and further tarnished Fried’s line. The Braves starter allowed five runs on 11 hits and one walk over six innings.

Fried had never previously allowed the same hitter to homer twice in one game. In fact, J.T. Realmuto (2019), Scott Kingery (2019), Bryce Harper (2019), Adam Duvall (2021), Mark Canha (2022) and Wilmer Flores (2023) had been the only players to hit two homers in any season against Fried.

“I just left two really bad pitches over the middle of the plate,” Fried said. “It was as simple as that.”

Fried recorded just two outs before he was pulled from his first start of the season in Philadelphia. He allowed seven earned runs in 4 1/3 innings against the D-backs the following week. But he entered Friday with a 2.08 ERA in 14 starts since.

Unfortunately, this outing might have cost him a shot at earning an All-Star selection.

Riley’s two-run shot against Aaron Nola in the fourth inning was his 11th homer of the season and his eighth homer in a span of 68 at-bats going back to June 14. Marcell Ozuna ended his season-high 12-game homerless drought with a three-run shot in the eighth inning.

But Ozuna's 22nd homer of the season wasn’t enough to erase the damage of Philadelphia’s mistake-aided three-run seventh.

Jesse Chavez was late to cover first base on Whit Merrifield’s grounder to the right side, partly because he assumed first baseman Matt Olson was going to field it cleanly and get to the bag in time. Two batters later, Chavez’s heel got caught in the grass as he attempted to throw to first base on a Johan Rojas dribbler in front of the mound. Merrifield scored from second and Rojas reached second. Rojas then scored when he stole third and Riley couldn't handle the throw for another error.

It was an ugly inning for what has been an ugly couple months for the Braves.