Atlanta Braves offense can’t back up Fried’s good start

The Atlanta Braves were reduced to only three hits and only scored via solo home run by Johan Camargo

Max Fried had a pretty good start in his return to the majors but the Atlanta Braves couldn’t do anything against Alex Wood, who also had a really good start.

Fried allowed only one run and that came in the second inning when he allowed a lead-off single to Kiké Hernández and followed up with a HBP to Cody Bellinger. The runners eventually moved to second and third via a fly-out by Logan Forsythe and an error by Dansby Swanson.

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**Side note** the Braves infield defense has been really sloppy lately, multiple errors committed between Swanson, Ozzie Albies, and Charlie Culberson. Some of it is the Braves trying to do too much like trying to turn double plays at weird angles due to where and how the ball was picked. Another is trying to throw the batter out at first when the ball was picked really late.

With those runners in scoring position, Yasiel Puig hit a sacrifice fly to score the first run for the Dodgers. Puig was making his return after being out three weeks with a strained right oblique, yet he had an eventful night offensively.

Alex Wood went 5.2 innings for the visitors, allowing only one hit – that being a double by Culberson in the first inning. Wood left the game in the sixth when he walked Nick Markakis after Freddie Freeman reached on an error and advanced on a wild pitch.

In front of another sold out crowd at SunTrust Park, the Braves couldn’t give much support to Fried. Fried’s final line was five innings while striking out seven and three walks.

Power By Homer And More

Puig really capped his return when he launched a two-run homer off Luke Jackson in the sixth inning after Cody Bellinger‘s walk.

The Braves got their lone run in the seventh when Johan Camargo held out for a 10-pitch at-bat climaxed by a solo home run to left. Albies came in as a pinch-hitter for Peter Moylan and got a two-out hit but couldn’t score.

Sam Freeman came into the ninth to pitch and instantly was in trouble. He gave up back-to-back walks to Puig and Austin Barnes. One out later, Chris Taylor singled to center for a run. Jonny Venters came in and though he gave up a RBI single to Manny Machado, he managed to end the inning.

Those numbers pretty well speak for themselves.

The Braves went on to lose 5-1 and now face another must-win situation to avoid a sweep Sunday.

Sean Newcomb (9-5, 3.41) will attempt to get back on track when he goes against Ross Stripling (8-2, 2.43) at 1:35 PM ET.