After two less than stellar starts to begin the 2022 campaign, Atlanta Braves (6-7) ace Max Fried (1-2, 3.50 ERA) showed the LA Dodgers (8-3) just how dominate he can be by throwing seven innings of two hit baseball, and leading the Braves to a 3-1 victory, while snapping the Dodgers seven game winning streak.
Manager Brian Snitker turned the game over to the bullpen after Fried did not allow a run through seven innings. From there a combination of Tyler Matzek and former Dodger Kenley Jansen, sealed the deal on the overall easy victory.
The Braves got on the board in the top of the second, when catcher Travis d’Arnaud hit a solo HR off Dodgers’ starter Walker Buehler (1-1, 4.02 ERA). The Braves would add single runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to account for all the scoring they would need on a night when Fried was masterful.
Fried was perfect through five innings, until Hanser Alberto singled to leadoff the sixth, taking a hanging curveball to the opposite field, one of the few mistakes Fried made on the evening.
Alberto would also get the Dodgers lone RBI of the evening when he grounded out to Ozzie Albies in the seventh, scoring Chris Taylor who had advanced to third base on a Matzek wild pitch earlier in the inning.
Jansen, the Dodgers all-time leader in saves, sat his former team down in order in the bottom of the ninth to close out the game with 1B Freddie Freeman flying out to deep center for the final out.
Charlie Morton will look to help the Braves win the series when he takes the mound for the rubber game Wednesday afternoon. Game time is 3:10 EST.