Field Level Media
18 Jul 2021, 08:10 GMT+10
Max Fried was stellar both on the mound and at the plate, newcomer Joc Pederson homered in his first Atlanta start and the Atlanta Braves cruised to a 9-0 victory over the visiting Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday.
Fried (7-5) sparkled over seven shutout innings, yielding only four hits and a walk while striking out seven.
He also went 3-for-3, including a two-run double in Atlanta's six-run fourth inning to gain control of the middle game of its three-game series with the Rays. The teams will play the rubber game of the set on Sunday.
Pederson, acquired Thursday night from the Chicago Cubs, manned right field, batted leadoff and went 2-for-5 with his 12th home run.
Freddie Freeman was 2-for-3 with a homer for the Braves, who broke a two-game losing streak and won for just the third time in 14 games against the American League.
Edgar Santana and Tyler Matzek completed the Braves' 11th shutout -- tying them with the San Francisco Giants for tops in the majors.
Tampa Bay starter Josh Fleming (7-5) started strong but eventually surrendered seven runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. Catcher Francisco Mejia mopped up with a scoreless eighth.
Yandy Diaz had two of the Rays' four hits. They lost for just the second time in their past nine games.
Fried faced the minimum over the first three frames -- his only blemish a first-inning single to Wander Franco, who was then picked off first.
However, the Braves sent nine batters to the plate in the fourth inning to blow the game open after chipping away at Fleming for two hits in the third.
Freeman opened the fourth with a single, and Ozzie Albies sent him home with a deep double, and Albies went to third on an error by center fielder Brett Phillips on the play. Austin Riley's sacrifice fly put the Braves up 2-0.
Fried burned the Rays with two outs after Guillermo Heredia's double and an intentional walk to Kevan Smith. The pitcher's second hit of the game, a slicing double to left, plated two more.
Pederson then hammered Fleming's 1-0 pitch over the right field fence for his first hit with the Braves and a 6-0 lead.
Freeman, who had a four-hit game Friday, swatted his 21st homer to lead off the fifth -- his sixth hit of the series - and added a sacrifice fly in the sixth after Dansby Swanson's RBI double.
--Field Level MediaGet a daily dose of Salt Lake City Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Salt Lake City Sun.
More InformationDUBLIN, Ireland: April 2025 saw a slight improvement in the labor market, with the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropping to...
LONDON, U.K.: Grocery prices in the UK rose by 3.8 percent in April, slightly higher than last month's 3.5 percent, adding more pressure...
HONG KONG: Hong Kong's housing market continued to lose ground in March, with home prices falling for a fourth straight month despite...
BEIJING, China: China's top airlines are still grounded in red ink, reporting steeper losses for the first quarter as they battle fierce...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: General Motors is recalling more than 720,000 vehicles globally over a defect linked to its 6.2L V8 engines, the...
ATLANTA, Georgia: United Parcel Service is cutting 20,000 jobs and closing dozens of facilities, marking one of its biggest shakeups...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The U.S. State Department has started a second round of its deferred resignation program, according to an internal...
ATLANTA, Georgia: United Parcel Service is cutting 20,000 jobs and closing dozens of facilities, marking one of its biggest shakeups...
NEW YORK, New York - A better-than-expected jobs report boosted U.S. stock markets Friday. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased...
FAYETTEVILLE, West Virginia: Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump signed orders to allow more coal mining on federal land...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks forged higher and the U.S. dollar regained ground Thursday as investors shrugged off concerns about...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: President Donald Trump's administration warned over the weekend that it might limit livestock imports from Mexico...