ATLANTA -- Max Fried's attempt to add suspense to the National League East race was unsuccessful on Wednesday night. But as he navigated through seven innings in a 3-2 loss to the Phillies at Truist Park, he gave the Braves confidence he’s righted himself in time for the stretch run.

“That was Max Fried,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “That’s what I told him after the seventh inning. You saw it from the first inning. The command was better, the velocity, the quality of his pitches. It was like, ‘Max is back’ -- and it was real encouraging.”

Fried faced the minimum in five of his seven innings and needed just 91 pitches to record 21 outs. This was far more efficient than the previous three starts he made since coming off the injured list. But while encouraged by the progress, the southpaw was bothered by the two-run lead he squandered in the sixth.

“We’re in the results time of year,” Fried said. “I wish I could have held that lead tonight to get us a win.”

While Fried was accountable, Orlando Arcia again passed on the chance to strongly support his own actions. Arcia looked back at Bryce Harper after giving Fried an early lead with his two-run homer off Aaron Nola in the fourth inning.

Harper was doubled off first base to end Game 2 of last year’s National League Division Series. A celebratory Arcia responded by walking through the Braves’ clubhouse repeatedly saying, “Atta boy, Harper.”

A couple outlets chose to run the quote. Instead of simply owning up to what was nothing more than celebratory words, Arcia made it clear he never intended for those words to be heard outside the clubhouse. Harper responded by staring at him after each of the two home runs he hit in Game 3.

So, was Arcia just having fun by staring at Harper after Wednesday’s home run?

“I was just enjoying my home run,” Arcia said via an interpreter.

Arcia’s home run wasn’t enough for the Braves, who were done in by Brandon Marsh’s go-ahead sacrifice fly off Joe Jiménez in the eighth. Instead of moving within five games of first place in the NL East, Atlanta now sits seven games behind Philadelphia.

While a seventh straight division title might seem unlikely, the Braves remain 1 1/2 games ahead of the Mets in the battle for the NL’s final Wild Card spot.

“We’re playing good, hard baseball,” Fried said. “We’re in a lot of games right now. I feel like if we keep playing like this, things will be all right.”

Having an effective Fried will be beneficial. The veteran hurler felt some left elbow discomfort just before he threw a perfect inning in the All-Star Game. He missed the first two weeks after the break, then struggled with his command upon his return. Fried lasted just 3 1/3 innings against the Marlins on Aug. 4 and he allowed five runs through the first three innings of his Aug. 10 start at Coors Field.

Fried seemed to make some strides while completing 5 1/3 innings in San Francisco last Thursday, but it didn’t all come together until Wednesday, when he faced the minimum through four innings.

“I’ve been searching for a certain queue that would allow everything to fall in place, instead of trying to force my pitches or force my body into a way that I would be able to execute my pitch,” Fried said. “I was able to find that one thing that allowed everything to sync up and just be aggressive to the mitt.”

Fried kept the Phillies scoreless until the sixth, which began with an Edmundo Sosa single and a Johan Rojas double. Kyle Schwarber scored Sosa with a groundout, then Rojas scored on Trea Turner’s sacrifice fly.

“[Schwarber and Turner] had two professional at-bats,” Fried said. “I made good pitches. Good hitters just put them in play.”