Braves starter Max Fried lifted after rough four innings

ATLANTA — Braves’ starter Max Fried was lifted from Monday’s Game 2 after throwing 95 pitches over four innings.

He allowed three runs, with two of those coming on a J.T. Realmuto two-run home run in the third inning. He threw nearly as many curveballs (29) as he did fastballs (24). The slider, a pitch he utilized 15% of the time during the regular season, was a non-factor.

His command was not sharp. He walked four and left the third inning with 76 pitches thrown. The Phillies made him throw 30 pitches in the top of the first as they scored one run on four hits, but left the bases loaded following a Bryson Stott ground out to end the inning.

Fried has not pitched in a game that counts since Sept. 21. He ended the season on the 15-day injured list with a blister on his left index finger. He threw five innings in an intrasquad tune up during the Wild Card series. He said he felt fine, but he wore a band aid over the blister as a precaution for the final four innings of his start.

“I mean, right now, as far as visuals and the way it feels, it just feels like my finger is healed and back to normal,” Fried said prior to Game 1.

Whether the blister was a factor is something we’ll find out more about after the game. No matter what, the Braves find themselves in a hole.

They are down 4-0 to the Philadelphia Phillies in the bottom of the fifth inning. Phillies starter Zack Wheeler has allowed only one baserunner, which came on an error by shortstop Trea Turner.

Fried would be the Braves’ Game 5 starter if the series were to return to Atlanta.

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