MIAMI — When the Braves fell behind early, Jorge Soler tied the score. When the Marlins tied the score later, Matt Olson and Gio Urshela each hit a two-run homer to help the Braves take control.
And on this day, the Braves got vintage Max Fried – the man who would not be denied.
The Braves beat the Marlins 6-2 on Saturday at loanDepot park. The Mets won, so the Braves remain two games back of the third and final wild-card spot in the National League.
“We’re gonna grind every game out,” Fried said. “We played a really good game today. The at-bats were really good and we never gave in, and made some unbelievable defensive plays, and threw the ball and made pitches when we needed to. Right now, that’s kind of all we have to do, is just focus on playing our game and putting our best foot forward and leaving it all out there.”
Five observations:
1. Hours before Saturday’s game, Braves manager Brian Snitker was asked about his offense and how to view it. On one hand, the Braves have repeatedly said they won’t make excuses. On the other, they are missing multiple stars.
Yes, they’ve struggled to sustain offense from one day to the next.
But they also aren’t the same team.
“That’s a big deal,” Snitker said of the injuries. “You need to have your players if you’re gonna do something. We supplemented all the injuries, I think, really well. I don’t know that we could’ve done any better as far as the guys we brought in here. But the reality is, we’re not the same offensive team that we’ve been. And we weren’t before the injuries, quite honestly. So I just think, sometimes, you gotta adjust. Not everybody’s gonna have a career year altogether. It’s tough. We’ve seen it in spurts, but it’s just been really hard to keep everything going on a daily basis.”
This was a fair summation of the group. Yes, there have been injuries. But the lineup scuffled even before those.
In their current state, the Braves are having a more difficult time scoring runs – which makes games like Saturday impressive.
After the Marlins tied the score in the sixth when Ozzie Albies’ errant throw allowed a run to score, the Braves hung four runs in the seventh. Marcell Ozuna singled, and Olson blasted a two-run shot. Later, Urshela launched a bomb.
“It was big,” Snitker said of this response. “I’m just so happy for Matt, where he is right now. You look up and he’s pushing 30 (homers) and 100 (RBIs). And Gio, there’s some power in that guy, and he continues to play really good defense. That was big. That was nice to score those runs.”
Olson has 29 home runs and 97 RBIs. The most encouraging part: Before Saturday, Olson had hit .330 with a 1.082 OPS, 11 doubles and six homers over his past 24 games, dating to Aug. 26.
Then he continued his tear, which also included a run-scoring single in the fifth inning to give the Braves a lead.
What’s the difference for Olson over this past month?
“I took a little step back from the video and the analysis of it, and tried to be a little more rhythm and feel-based,” Olson said. “Just squaring up some balls that I should be at a better clip.”
2. Fried looked determined. This much was clear: The Marlins were going to have a difficult time with him.
Six innings later, this was the case.
Fried allowed two runs – one earned – in his latest start. The Braves needed every bit of it.
“It’s that time of the year where, (with) where we’re at, I really only had two starts left,” Fried said. “You just gotta dig deep. Every ounce of what I had today, I wanted to make sure I left it out there.”
Sometimes, Fried gets in a mode where he looks unbeatable. Yes, the Marlins had traffic at times. But they’re one of the worst teams in baseball, and Fried easily quieted them.
You could tell he understood the task.
“He was on point,” Snitker said. “I thought his stuff was really, really good. His off-speed and his change-up. And I thought he had good velocity on his fastball. He was really good today.”
3. The ball rolled down the right-field line and toward the wall in foul territory. Soler ran toward it, but didn’t put his glove down. He bumped into, and bounced off of, the wall. The ball rolled away. A run scored.
“I saw the replay, and (the ball) kind of hugged the wall,” Snitker said. “That’s tough for a big man to come in full speed and bend over and get a ball like that.”
But Soler made up for it.
On the first pitch of the top of the second, he launched a homer off Marlins starter Adam Oller. It tied the score by getting back the run he helped permit.
Soler’s right-field defense has been poor. But give him this: At times, he’s paid his debts with huge hits.
“The guy’s a threat any time he’s in the box, that’s for sure,” To be able to get it going for us a little bit and kickstart the offense was big.
4. In the first inning, Michael Harris II went back on a hard-hit ball and did a little hop to snag a ball while slightly twisting his body but not getting turned around. It could’ve been a double that perhaps would’ve allowed the Marlins to score more than one run in that inning.
In the eighth, with a runner on base and two outs, Harris sprinted to the left-center field gap and jumped to catch a ball before bumping into the wall. Reliever Joe Jiménez raised his arms as a sign of gratitude.
“You’re getting to a point where you can put together a pretty long highlight film of what he’s doing,” Snitker said. “Just the timing, the feel.”
The pitchers appreciate it.
“You know when the ball goes up that you have a really good chance of that ball being caught,” Fried said.
Does Olson see Harris winning multiple Gold Glove awards during his career?
“I do,” Olson said. “Best center fielder I’ve ever played with, for sure.”
5. Saturday marked Fried’s 72nd career win. Fried tied Steve Avery for the fifth-most wins by a left-handed pitcher in franchise history.
“Obviously it’s extremely special and humbling,” Fried said. “I guess I’m too in it right now to really give you some true perspective. But Steve Avery is an unbelievable pitcher, and he did a lot of incredible things for this organization, so to be in conversation with him, it’s an honor.”
Only Warren Spahn (356) and Tom Glavine (244), Ed Brandt (94) and Lefty Tyler (92) have more for the Braves. Avery’s 72 wins came in 203 career appearances (201 starts), so Fried reached the milestone in 167 games (150 starts).
“He’s been really good for his time here, that’s for sure,” Snitker said. “He burst on the scene here when he was a kid. I’ve said, I’ve had a really cool seat watching Max mature and come in and be one of the elite left-handed pitchers in our game.”
Stat to know
30 and 100 – If Olson can reach 30 homers and 100 RBIs, it will mark his third time doing so for the Braves. He’ll join Hank Aaron (10), Andruw Jones (5), Chipper Jones (5), Dale Murphy (5), Eddie Mathews (5), Wally Berger (3) and teammate Marcell Ozuna (3) as the only players to have at least three 30-100 seasons while playing for the Braves.
Quotable
“It’s what he does. I feel like I always talk about him being able to mix it up and adjust to guys. He’s not a one-trick pony by any means. He’s able to read swings and see what they’re trying to do and kind of counter it – which you’d feel like everybody would be able to do, but it’s just not the case. Some guys have their stuff and they stick with it, and he’s a true pitcher in that sense.” – Olson on Fried’s excellence in a big game
Up next
Grant Holmes will start for the Braves in Sunday’s series finale, which begins at 1:40 p.m. Right-hander Darren McCaughan will start for Miami.
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