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Max Fried, Braves face off in a marquee matchup against Phillies and Aaron Nola

The Atlanta Braves will continue their homestand Friday night where they will face the Philadelphia Phillies in a showdown between the top two teams in the NL East. The Braves come into the series with a 47-38 mark and 9.0 games behind the Phillies. Philadelphia has the best record in the majors at 57-30.

Friday’s game will feature a marquee pitching matchup between Atlanta’s Max Fried and Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola. The matchup is a rematch from the second game of the season where Fried allowed three runs and didn’t make it out of the first inning. Nola made it out of the first but was hammered for 11 hits and six earned runs in 4 ¹⁄₃ innings.

Fried got hit hard in his next start against Arizona but has since settled in as one of the best pitchers in the majors and has a 2.08 ERA and a 3.11 FIP in 14 starts since April 12. He’s coming off a good performance against the Pirates where he went six innings while allowing one run. He’s allowed a total of three runs over his last three starts combined.

Nola bounced back well from his first start and has again been a workhorse for the Phillies. He’s got a 3.05 ERA and a 3.53 FIP in 16 starts since the opening weekend matchup against the Braves. Nola allowed three runs and struck out nine over 6 ²⁄₃ innings in his last start against the Marlins.

Both teams come into the series without several key players. The Braves of course lost Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuña Jr. to season-ending injuries. Michael Harris is currently on the injured list with a strained hamstring and A.J. Minter just recently returned to the active roster after missing time with a hip injury. The Phillies are currently without Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto who are all on the injured list currently.

The Braves have mixed and matched outfielders throughout the season to try and cover the injuries to Acuña and Harris. The team added Eli White to the mix ahead of Friday’s game and optioned Forrest Wall back to Gwinnett. Atlanta also reportedly signed veteran outfielder Eddie Rosario to a minor league deal Friday.

Friday’s game has a scheduled start time of 7:20 p.m. ET and can be seen exclusively on Apple TV+.