M-Braves' Fried proves untouchable in gem

The 2017 season hadn't begun the way Max Fried or the Braves would have wished. The 23-year-old left-hander, who skipped over Class A Advanced to begin at Double-A Mississippi, pulled out of his Opening Night start in the second inning with back spasms, and though the injury was just a scare, he still posted a 7.59 ERA over his first three Southern League starts. Before he could get too down on himself, a group of Mississippi teammates, led by Connor Lien, made sure Fried didn't forget what makes him MLB.com's No. 100 prospect.
"They basically were saying, 'We believe in you,' and 'Don't worry about it,'" he said. "They talked about how they knew what I was capable of and that things would get better. All of it really resonated with me. I appreciated it a lot. It took off a lot of the pressure I was putting on myself, and I felt a lot better going into today."

On Tuesday, Montgomery saw what a healthy and confident Fried can do, and the rest of the Southern League is on notice.
The Braves' No. 8 prospect took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and finished with only one hit and one walk allowed while fanning six over seven scoreless innings in Mississippi's 3-2 win over host Montgomery.
Box score
It was the first time since Aug. 31, 2013 -- pitching for Class A Fort Wayne in the Padres organization -- that Fried had pitched seven innings in a regular-season start. He hit that mark twice in last year's run to the South Atlantic League championship with Class A Rome.
"I felt pretty good today," said the M-Braves starter, who needed only 77 pitches (48 of which were strikes) to get through his seven frames. "I tried to work ahead as best I could and focused on hitting the glove. [Catcher Armando Araiza] did a good job calling the game, so I was trying to follow his lead. He spent the last [seven] seasons with the Rays, so he knew how to go after some of the guys. I trusted him and focused on getting the ball to the right spots."
As good as the final line looked, Fried fought adversity early. The southpaw plunked Andrew Velazquez to begin the first, and the Biscuits leadoff hitter moved over to third on a Nathan Lukes groundout and a two-out stolen base. Fried escaped the jam by getting Grant Kay to bounce out to short. 
"Based on the last couple starts, it felt like nothing new," Fried said of the unfortunate opening. "It's one of those things where I want to limit damage. I can't get too caught up in it. Just get into the dugout with as little damage as possible.
"I never tried to get comfortable either. Every inning is a new inning. I don't want anything that had happened before, whether it's good or bad, to affect me out there. I want to try to stay on my toes as much as possible."
Fried retired the next 11 batters in order and didn't allow another Montgomery baserunner to reach second base. Kay walked in the fourth but was picked off first by Fried -- his third pickoff in four starts -- and Riley Unroe broke up the no-hit bid with a single to left in the sixth but was erased on an unassisted double play by Mississippi first baseman Joey Meneses on a liner off the bat of Velazquez.
The 6-foot-4 left-hander kept Montgomery hitters off balance with his 60-grade fastball and curveball. The breaking ball was especially good, with Fried going to it as often as three times in a row to certain hitters.
"I think I was able to locate it really well today, especially down in the zone," he said. "I wanted to get guys off the fastball. I think my fastball command was pretty good, but I don't want them sitting on that either. The curveball's good for another look."
It didn't hurt that Montgomery starter José Mujica also cruised, allowing one unearned run on one hit and one walk while fanning five over seven innings. With both starting pitchers flying, Tuesday's contest only took 2 hours, 16 minutes to complete -- 29 minutes shorter than the average nine-inning game in the Southern League this season.
"The game just kind of had a rhythm to it," Fried said. "He puts up a zero, so you want to go out there and do the same. My job is to try to keep my team in the game. In that situation, you can either match what he's doing or see your team fall behind, and that's not what I want at all."

Fried was taken out after seven innings when Mississippi coaches determined he'd come too close to his early-season 85-pitch limit.
The win was Fried's first at Double-A. His ERA dropped more than three runs from 7.59 to 4.58, and he's now struck out 14 batters and walked 10 over 17 2/3 innings with Mississippi. Using his 82 Game Score, it was his best in the Braves system since coming over from the Padres in the Justin Upton deal in December 2014. (Tommy John surgery kept him out until last season.) 
The win was both notable and a relief for the 2012 first-rounder.
"I haven't come out of a game early [because of injury] like that since my elbow, so I was a little worried," Fried said of his Opening Day outing. "But our trainers and team doctors told me to just give it time and everything would go back to normal. I've tried to stay on top of my correctives and put my self in the best position to be healthy. I felt pretty good in my my last outing, health-wise. It just wasn't a good outing. But feeing good was a positive I tried to take into this game and will take with me going forward."
Braves designated hitter Jared James provided Mississippi's edge with two-run homer in the eighth inning. Left-hander Jesse Biddle earned his first career save by striking out three over 1 2/3 perfect innings.