Despite his homerless drought, Acuña entered Wednesday batting .286 with a .749 OPS, five RBIs and eight stolen bases. His numbers were that of an above-average major leaguer.

And now, the homers might come in bunches.

“You know that he’s as good as anyone in the game,” Fried said. “It’s early. He’s probably got, what, 500 more at-bats? No one here was expecting anything else besides him going out there and continually just taking good ABs. It might not seem like it’s typical Ronald fashion, but I know I looked up today and saw he was hitting .300. It’s exciting and to have him go deep in that part of the ballpark, on that kind of pitch, it’s a good sign.”

— 3. For most of his outing, Fried fought hard. The Astros certainly pressured him, but he didn’t crack.

Until the fifth.

Fried’s third time through the order didn’t go well. With the Braves up a run, he allowed three consecutive singles — the third of which drove in a run. Then Kyle Tucker smoked a double to right field to bring home a second run.

“The later it went, it just kind of fell off the rails a little bit,” Fried said. “Was not able to execute on fastballs as much as I wanted. It felt like I was falling behind. … When the guys go and they give you a lead and you give it up immediately, it’s something that, looking back, probably bothers me the most — just not being able to get out of that inning, (or) kind of just limiting it.”

Fried finished the fifth, but didn’t go out for the sixth. He didn’t blow up, but he wasn’t crisp. Of Fried’s 96 pitches, only 52 were strikes. He walked four batters.

His ERA is 7.71. But he knows he’s made only four starts.

This is a long season.

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