If the Braves are going to defeat the Phillies, Max Fried needs to get back to his best.

Looks like we’re in for another pitcher’s duel tonight. I’m hoping Max Fried will appear like himself tonight!

The Atlanta Braves are now hoping to win the series against the Philadelphia Phillies in the middle game of this vital three-game series after a heartwarming victory to get this major series off on the right foot.

If the Braves are going to have a real shot at this one, then the onus will likely be placed squarely upon the starting pitcher once again. Tonight, it’s Max Fried and you don’t need me to tell you that he’s absolutely going to have to be better if Atlanta’s going to have a real shot at winning tonight. Fried was a little bit better in his most recent outing where he got into the sixth inning while giving up three runs along the way and it was certainly an improvement over his first two starts after returning from injury, which resulted in Fried getting hit hard by the Marlins and Rockies.

Fried will also be hoping that the third time will be the charm for him against the Phillies. He’s made two starts against Philadelphia this season and both of them were underwhelming. His first start against the Phillies came all the way back on March 30, which is when the Phillies ran him from the game in the first inning after he only got two whole entire outs deep into the game. He eventually saw them again on July 5 and while Fried did get much deeper into the game, the results were just as bad as the Phillies got him for five runs over six innings in that one.

m not going to sit here and guarantee that Max Fried’s going to figure it out against this crew in his third start against them but also, this is a pretty good time for him to run into the Phillies. As I mentioned in yesterday’s preview, Philadelphia’s offense has definitely slowed down a bit since the All-Star break and that was true last night — this was the fifth time this month where the Phillies had scored two runs or less in a game. While credit does have to be given to Reynaldo López for getting the job done (and hopefully Max Fried will be able to follow in his footsteps tonight), it’s also a sign that the Phillies are definitely prone to scuffling at the moment. Again, that’s not a guarantee that this is going to go well for Fried and the Braves but you have to imagine that this is about as good of a time as any for him to figure it out.

If anything, the start in that aforementioned game on July 5 seems to be a closer indication of what Nola can do. The Braves did get him for three runs that day but Nola made it through six innings and the Phillies eventually won that game 8-6. As far as Nola’s most recent starts go, he benefited from seeing the Nationals just like the rest of the team did as he made it into the seventh inning with a shutout intact. However, he did give up four runs in both of the two starts he made against the Diamondbacks and Dodgers, respectively before that start against the Nationals. Obviously, the Braves are hoping that they’ll find a way to pull off what Arizona and Los Angeles did instead of ending up buried like Washington was.

Last night was absolutely a feel-good moment for the Braves and hopefully we’ll get some more of that tonight. In a dream scenario, Jorge Soler makes a return to the lineup after his pinch-hitting appearance last night, Max Fried pitches an ace-caliber game and the August 2024 Braves bring back memories of the March 2024 Braves and put a bunch of runs on the board against Aaron Nola tonight. Naturally, we’re probably going to get another pitcher’s duel where runs are at a premium. Either way, I won’t mind either scenario as long as the Braves come out on top and I’m sure that y’all wouldn’t mind it either.