Fried successfully kept the Pirates bats off balance for six innings, preventing hard contact throughout his entire start. The Pirates lone run off Fried came in in the top of the fifth, when Edward Olivares brought home Michael A. Taylor with a sacrifice fly to right field. The run was set by Taylor’s lead-off single, which broke an 0-for-16 streak at the plate.

The Pirates squandered a pair of chances to take the lead in the late going, following Fried’s exit. The first came in the eighth, when Nick Gonzales and Ke’Bryan Hayes reached on back to back walks, eventually moving to second and third base with two outs. That opportunity, however, came to an end when Yasmani Grandal was robbed of extra bases by Kelenic on a line drive smashed to center field.

Bryan Reynolds gave the Pirates an equally big chance the next inning when he tripled to right field with two outs to extend his hitting streak to 25-games. Atlanta intentionally walked Oneil Cruz the following at-bat to pitch to Olivares, who grounded out to the mound to end the frame.

Up next

Sunday: Pirates at Braves, Truist Park, 11:35 a.m. ET.

Probable pitchers: RHP Spencer Schwellenbach (1-3, 5.40) for Braves; LHP Bailey Falter (3-6, 4.00) for Pirates.

Key matchup: Falter has been at his best this season during afternoon games, allowing 13 earned runs in 34 innings (3.44 ERA).

Hidden stat: Andrew McCutchen is only one walk shy of tying Ralph Kiner (795) for fifth place on the Pirates all-time base on balls list.

Monday: Off-day

Tuesday: Pirates vs. Cardinals, 6:40 p.m., PNC Park

Probable pitchers: RHP Mitch Keller (9-4, 3.20) for Pirates; RHP Kyle Gibson (5-3, 3.70) for Cardinals.

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