I’m Fried
I’m Fried
And Fried-dom tastes of victory
I’m Fried
I’m Fried
An’ I’m pitching for the Braves against the Mets machine
If I had what it takes
To reach the highest high
You’d laugh and say ‘fix that bullpen’
But with Soroka and Fried onboard
Messiahs pointed to the playoffs
And no one had the guts to sign Kimbrel!
I’m Fried
I’m Fried
And Fried-dom tastes of victory
I’m Fried
I’m Fried
An’ I’m waiting for the Braves to score for me
(Whispered) Fix the bullpen.
(Whispered) Fix the bullpen.

The Braves passed the first test.  Because tonight was the first game of the rest of the season.  Because tonight begins the race to the pennant.  From now on, we play mostly division opponents except for games against teams we’ve dominated like the Dodgers and the Royals.  Of course, as hot as the Mets have been, the Braves needed to make a statement with this game.  And they did.

The Braves wasted no time against Wheeler with four hits and two runs in the first.  And they should have scored more.  With a robo ump, we’d have scored at least one more run maybe more than one.  Really, I think the Braves won the game right there.  But my main man, Max, was on the mound.  Mad Max came out of the gates blazing with a quick K and a ground out.  Then came the walks – two of them.  I’ll have to admit, though, that walking Alonso and Davis was not all bad, because Max got Ramos to ground out to end the inning.  Then he settled in for 6 innings of one run baseball.  The only blemish was a 2nd inning McNeil RBI single after a stupid HBP of Wheeler on a curve that didn’t curve.

Meanwhile, the Braves offense did not let up.  What’s better, a leadoff double by our very own pitcher, Max Fried, led to the next run.  El Abusador put the exclamation point on by hitting a no doubter over the left centerfield fence in the fourth.  It happens very often, but Acuna always amazes me with how fast the ball leaps off his bat.  Ender manufactured the final run with a double in the fifth.  Whatever speed the ball leaves Acuna’s bat at is exactly opposite the speed at which BMac moves up on a wild pitch and scores from 2B on a double.  But there we were with a 5-1 lead after Max finished the 6th.  Then Lucky Lukey came on and pitched a really spectacular clean 7th inning with two strikeouts.  Really, a clean inning, not an Atlanta clean inning, wherein no one actually gets on base.  Bravo, Luke.

Of course, then came the rest of the bullpen.  With a 5-1 lead, the time was ripe for a Greene appearance.  Naturally, he looked eminently hittable.  If there was anything bad in this game, then it was how close Greene came to redeeming himself if only for one day.  When Culby booted the DP grounder and got only one out, he set the stage for an avalanche of baserunners and runs.

Of course, Snit gets a lot of credit for what he did next in playing pure matchup and used one pitcher per out to get out of the inning with only two runs scoring.  Snit brought Blevins in and he generated a ground out (another potential DP the Braves couldn’t turn).  Then the General came in and gave up two solid singles that included a ball hit so hard it totally ate Freddy up.  But Panik grounded out to end the inning.  Fortunately, the BABIP Gods took us for a ride for only one inning.  Because Shit called on Melancon to finish the game and he performed his job quite well.  So the bullpen was actually really good for two out of three innings – a distinct improvement.  I’m feeling quite a lot better about Tuesday nights.