Cobb Reporter

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 fourth 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 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 left-field seats. The 459-foot home run gave Philadelphia 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 among only players hitting two homers in any season against Fried.

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

Fried recorded just two outs before being pulled from his first start of season in Philadelphia earlier this year, allowing seven earned runs in 4⅓ innings against D-backs following week but entered Friday with a solid ERA of 2.08 across his last fourteen starts since then.

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

Riley’s two-run shot against Aaron Nola during fourth inning marked his eleventh homer this season & eighth within span dating back June fourteenth while Marcell Ozuna ended twelve-game homerless drought via three-run shot during eighth inning marking twenty-second homer overall yet wasn't enough erase damage caused by Philadelphia’s mistake-aided three-run seventh inning where Jesse Chavez failed cover first base timely assuming Matt Olson would field cleanly followed heel getting caught grass attempting throw Johan Rojas dribbler scoring Merrifield from second base reaching second himself then scoring again stealing third due Riley's handling error making ugly couple months uglier for Braves overall.