Fried's early exit is the latest Braves injury in a difficult season that ends with a playoff win

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Braves' top pitcher, NL Cy Young Award favorite Chris Sale, was at home in Atlanta with a back injury.

Max Fried, who began his career as a farmhand with the San Diego Padres and won the deciding game of the 2021 World Series for the Braves, was in the dugout during the third inning.

Still, the Braves shocked the sellout crowd at Petco Park on Wednesday night by cutting San Diego's lead to one run. But the Padres completed a two-game sweep of their NL Wild Card Series with a 5-4 victory that ended an extremely difficult season for Atlanta.

Plagued by injuries throughout the year, the struggling Braves still managed to make the playoffs for the seventh straight year – although their six-year reign atop the NL East was interrupted.

“We won 89 games. I’m so proud of these guys,” said manager Brian Snitker. “I just told them that. I think it's amazing what they've done to get us into contention. We had a chance here. We got into the tournament.

“Get a hit yesterday, get a hit today, who knows, maybe we’ll play tomorrow,” Snitker said. “But we’re not. That's how this thing is. That’s how fragile and heavy it is. Think about how difficult it is in this long season for everything to go well.”

Sale was scratched from the nightcap with back spasms on Monday after a makeup doubleheader against the New York Mets – a game Atlanta had to win to reach the postseason. He was left off the roster for the Wild Card Series.

And then the latest in a long line of injuries occurred just two batters into Fried's stint Wednesday night. The left-hander was hit in the left hip by Fernando Tatis Jr.'s comebacker, who ran away and allowed the batter to reach an infield single. Fried was checked by an athletic trainer and remained in the game. He loaded the bases but got out of the jam.

He got the first two outs of the second inning before No. 9 batter Kyle Higashioka hit a home run into the left field slots to tie the game at 1-1. The Padres followed with five more hits and suddenly the score was 5-1.

“It was a pretty good shot,” Snitker said. “I’m not going to take anything away from the Padres. They fielded some balls really well and scored big hits. I think when he got hit in the hip later in the inning, it affected him, and it was through no fault of his own, because when he started, I thought, “Oh man, this is going to be pretty good here.” .' I think the longer he was out there, the worse it got.

“But our bullpen did an incredible job here too – for the second time in a row. I'm also so proud of these guys and how they did it. And guess what? We achieved it within realistic figures.”

The Braves have overcome a staggering number of injuries to make it to October.

Spencer Strider, coming off a 20-win season in which he set a franchise record with 281 strikeouts, made just two starts due to an elbow injury before his season ended.

Ronald Acuña Jr., the unanimous NL MVP in 2023 when he became the first player in major league history with 40 home runs and 70 stolen bases, left in late May with the second season-ending knee injury of his career.

Slugging third baseman Austin Riley suffered a broken hand in mid-August and was ruled out for the playoffs. Key player AJ Minter underwent season-ending hip surgery, and second baseman Ozzie Albies and center fielder Michael Harris II returned after missing extended periods.

“Like I said, everyone has to go through things coming here. “It's hard to go through seven months for any team, all 30 of us,” Snitker said. “And it just shows that you can do everything right and you can't – that's one of the reasons why we keep coming back in this game, in this business.”

“And that’s why it’s so hard to win a World Series. It's hard to get into the playoffs. It's hard to win a division. So a lot of things just have to work out. They have a lot of depth in the organization.”

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