Max Fried dominated through six innings in his return from the injured list, and the Atlanta Braves cooled off the Chicago Cubs 8-0 on Friday at Wrigley Field.
Sean Murphy and Marcell Ozuna homered on back-to-back pitches off Kyle Hendricks in the Braves’ seven-run fourth inning. Austin Riley connected in the seventh, and Ronald Acuña Jr. finished with three hits.
The Braves, who at 70-37 have the best record in the majors, won their third straight and sixth in seven games.
Fried allowed three baserunners, all on singles, in his first start since May 5. He had been sidelined by a left forearm strain.
Fried (3-1), a runner-up for the NL Cy Young Award last season, struck out eight before exiting after 72 pitches. The 29-year-old left-hander retired his first 12 hitters with no hard contact.
“I felt sharper than expected,” said Fried, who had four rehab starts in the minors. “I had a lot of nervous energy, just looking forward to this day for a long time.”
“I really just tried to simplify it and and keep us in it as long as we can. These guys have been doing so good for so long. I just want to kind of seamlessly fit it and not try to mess anything up.”
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The Braves look even more imposing after Fried’s velocity topped out at 97 mph.
“I honestly didn’t think he’d be that sharp,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said, “but that was pretty good and very impressive.”
Cody Bellinger finished with two of the Cubs’ four hits. The Cubs had won 13 of 16.
“Fried was pitching like an ace,” manager David Ross said. “He had real stuff, in the zone, mixing multiple pitches, kitchen sink thrown at everybody.”
The Braves, who lead the majors with 209 home runs, went deep consecutively for the the second straight game and for the 14th time this season.
“I’ve never been part of an offense that can do that,” Murphy said. “It feels like at any inning, any point we can explode for a whole bunch.”
Acuña had two hits — a single and an RBI triple — in the fourth as the Braves sent 11 hitters to the plate. Ozzie Albies, Matt Olson and Orlando Arcia doubled in the outburst.
Hendricks (4-6) set down the first nine batters but was charged with seven runs and eight hits in the fourth inning, his last. Hayden Wesneski followed with three innings of one-hit relief, José Cuas threw a scoreless eighth and catcher Tucker Barnhart tossed a scoreless ninth.
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Chicago Tribune Sports
Despite the loss, the third-place Cubs remained 2 1/2 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers and two games behind the Cincinnati Reds in the National League Central.
Brad Hand, acquired from the Colorado Rockies at Tuesday’s trade deadline, relieved Fried in the seventh to make his debut with the Braves. He allowed a hit in one inning.
Acuña singled to lead off the fourth, then scored on Riley’s groundout. Olson doubled in a run before scoring on Murphy’s line shot to the left-field bleachers.
Ozuna followed with a 439-foot blast that reached Waveland Avenue. Michael Harris knocked in a run with a single, then scored on Acuña’s triple down the right-field line.
Fried versus Cubs
Fried improved to 5-0 against the Cubs. He earned his first major-league win at Wrigley Field on Sept. 3, 2017.
Swanson story
All-Star shortstop Dansby Swanson was 0-for-3 and struck out twice in his first game against the Braves, his former team, since signing a seven-year, $177 million contract with the Cubs in December.
Swanson, a Georgia native, played his first seven seasons in Atlanta.