Max Fried allowed one run over six innings and Jarred Kelenic homered again to help the Atlanta Braves to a 3-1 win over the New York Yankees.
Fried’s afternoon got off to a good start Sunday with a scoreless first inning. Juan Soto singled with one out but was left stranded as Fried struck out Aaron Judge and then got Alex Verdugo to ground out. He added another strikeout while retiring the side in order in the second.
Atlanta’s offense started slowly against Yankees left-hander Nestor Cortes who struck out the side in the first. He retired the first two hitters to start the second before hitting Sean Murphy with a fastball in the upper arm. However, he came right back and struck out Adam Duvall to end the inning.
Cortes retired two more to start the third before Kelenic jumped on a first pitch cutter and drove it out to center for a solo home run to give the Braves an early lead. It was the first homer Cortes had allowed all season to a left-handed hitter.
After getting the lead, Fried went back to work in the home half of the third. Trent Grisham reached with a one-out single but was erased as Anthony Volpe bounced into a double play to end the inning. He retired the side in order in the fourth including strikeouts of Judge and Verdugo.
The Braves added on against Cortes in the fifth. Ramon Laureano got things started with a one-out single and then advanced all the way to third on a double by Orlando Arcia. Kelenic came through with a sacrifice fly to center to push the lead to 2-0. The Braves weren’t finished as Ozzie Albies placed a single to right center that scored Arcia to add another run.
Fried pitched around a two-out single by Ben Rice in a scoreless fifth. The Yankees finally got to him in the sixth. Grisham began the inning with a solid single to right. Volpe followed with a double to the left center gap to cut Atlanta’s lead to 3-1.
That would bring up Soto who sent a sharp grounder back up the middle that Arcia fielded and threw to third in time to nab Volpe. The Yankees challenged but the call was confirmed. That would prove to be a big play as Judge singled to left to put runners at first and second. Fried fell behind Verdugo 3-1 but got him to ground to Arcia who stepped on the bag and threw on to first to complete the double play.
After the tough sixth inning, Fried would give way to Pierce Johnson to start the seventh. He allowed six hits, one run and struck out four over six innings. Fried threw 87 pitches and didn’t walk a batter.
Johnson allowed another single to Rice, but nothing else in a scoreless seventh. Joe Jimenez struck out two in a perfect eighth.
Marcell Ozuna finished with two of Atlanta’s six hits in the game. Kelenic’s homer extended his hitting streak to 10-straight games. Raisel Iglesias closed things out in the ninth to seal the win.
With the win, Atlanta takes its third straight series and improves to 43-32 for the season. They will continue their road trip Monday where they will begin a three-game series against the Cardinals.
