SAN DIEGO — Max Fried held sputtering San Diego in check for five innings in his return from the injured list, and Austin Riley hit a two-run homer as the Atlanta Braves defeated the Padres 2-0 Monday night for their seventh straight win.
The Padres were shut out for the second consecutive day and the third time in eight games. They’ve lost six of eight since taking three of four in Atlanta from April 6-9.
The Padres fell two games under .500 for the first time since the first two games of the season. They hope the return of Fernando Tatis Jr. on Thursday after his 80-game PED suspension will add a spark. San Diego was shut out at home in consecutive games for the first time since April 2016, both by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Fried (1-0) was activated to start against the Padres, who took him in the first round of the 2012 amateur draft.
On Sunday, before Atlanta made the trip to California, Braves manager Brian Snitker told reporters the club would not place any restrictions on Fried in his return.
“You have to use common sense and see, and take it inning to inning,” Snitker said Sunday. “We’ll watch for stressful innings, things like that.”
In the end, there wasn’t much of that. Fried limited San Diego to four singles while striking out four and walking none. And A.J. Minter pitched the ninth for his fourth save.
Fried, who finished second in NL Cy Young Award balloting last year, was placed on the IL after leaving his opening-day start against Washington with a strained left hamstring. He allowed one run and four hits over 3 1/3 innings in that game.
“He looked really good,” Snitker said. “It’s hard to believe he had a layoff like that. As sharp as he was, he was throwing the ball really well. It kind of went like exactly how we wanted it to go. Made it through five and he was very efficient with what he was doing. I told him, next time out, you take the gloves off and turn you loose.”
The left-hander was sent from San Diego to Atlanta in a six-player trade on Dec. 19, 2014, during the Padres’ failed win-now push for the 2015 season. He made his big league debut on Aug. 8, 2017.
“I was just hoping to come out healthy,” Fried said. “I wanted to go out and give us the best chance to win.”
The Braves took a 2-0 lead three batters in on Riley’s one-out homer to left field, his fourth. Ronald Acuna Jr. was aboard with a leadoff double on left-hander Ryan Weathers‘ first pitch.
Fried said Riley’s homer “allows me to go out there and know that a solo home run doesn’t beat me. Especially Austin comes up, two-run homer, and you can be a little bit more aggressive where one ball doesn’t beat you. As long as you can go out there and stay ahead, be aggressive and get those guys back in the dugout as quick as possible, you have the best chance to add on.”
Riley said it’s fun when Fried is pitching: “He’s so competitive and he’s into every pitch. He’s always thinking. I’ve never seen anyone game plan as well as he does, and good for him. He deserves to throw well because he prepares well and does his homework.”
Weathers (1-1) allowed five hits in six innings.
To make room for Fried, the Braves placed left-hander Lucas Luetge on the 15-day IL with left biceps inflammation, retroactive to Friday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
