ATLANTA, Ga. - On Tuesday, it was a stellar outing from Charlie Morton that gave the Atlanta Braves (85-72) a critical series-opening victory. That victory shrunk the Braves' magic number to three games, leaving Atlanta two wins over the Phillies (81-77) away from their 21st division title.

On Wednesday, it was a similar dominant outing from starting pitcher Max Fried (14-7); the left-hander allowed one earned run in his seven innings of work as the Braves capitalized on three free passes in the seventh inning to take a key 7-2 victory.

Fried has been brilliant down the stretch of the season, but no game may have been more important than this one. He struck out six batters, including fanning NL MVP candidate Bryce Harper on three separate occasions.

Atlanta owned a 3-2 lead as the bottom of the seventh started and the Phillies worked into their bullpen. That was where the lead ballooned; three relievers combined to give up four runs on three walks and four hits.

Austin Riley (2-for-4, 3 RBI) hit a clutch two-run double in that inning to open the flood gates. Four batters later, a two-run single from Dansby Swanson put the Braves up five runs and the game on ice.

After taking the first two games of the series, the Braves are just one game away from a three-game sweep and clinching the NL East crown. The final game of the series scheduled tomorrow could be the division-clinching game for Atlanta.

Fried, Riley Continue Their Dominance

It is hard to not look forward to the postseason for this Braves team with the NL East all but secured. How does Atlanta stack up with the rest of the postseason pack? Well, the dominance shown by their starting pitchers as of late has to have Braves fans' hopes high. Charlie Morton just pitched a dominant seven scoreless innings on Tuesday, one of his best showings of the season.

In the very next matchup, Max Fried showed what he has been doing to opposing hitters lately. He entered the game riding a 16 scoreless-inning streak, the longest of his career. A scoreless opening inning extended that streak to 17 innings before a throwing error ended his streak in the second inning.

Still, the left-hander had everything he needed to dominate the Phillies' hitters as he has become the Braves' most reliable starter. In his last 11 starts, Fried is 7-0 with a 1.46 ERA; the Braves are 10-1 in those games.

Meanwhile, Austin Riley continues his underrated season for the Braves. After the season-ending injury to Ronald Acuna Jr., the Braves needed someone to step up as a consistent presence at the plate. Freddie Freeman has been that for his whole career, but the emergence of Riley has been the critical spark of the Braves' run to the postseason.

Riley's two-hit effort put him at 174 hits on the year, the fourth-most in the NL. He is also eighth in slugging percentage (.526), eighth in Baseball-Reference WAR (4.5), and tied for ninth in home runs (32). His emergence as a top-ten hitter in the NL has been the catalyst to the Braves' postseason push.

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Braves vs. Phillies, Thursday, September 30, Truist Park, Atlanta, Ga.