NEW YORK — Raisel Iglesias may have been more upset at the start when he allowed JD Martinez’s home run, only one away from the Braves’ first no-hitter in 30 years.
“To be honest, I didn’t know the spoiler was happening,” Iglesias said through interpreter Franco Garcia. “When they called my name, I went up there. To be honest, I’m a pitcher who doesn’t put much stock in that. I don’t want to put any unnecessary pressure on myself.
Martinez’s two-out homer in the ninth ended Atlanta’s hopes of celebrating a no-hitter. But the Braves still had reason to feel good as Max Fried pitched another gem to help them to a 4-1 win over the Mets at Citi Field on Saturday afternoon.
“A homer is better than an infield single,” Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud said.
In the past two weeks, Freed has seen one no-hitter end with a home run and another with a soft-hit single that narrowly missed the infield.
Fried threw six strong innings against the Mariners on April 29 and then saw his no-hit bid end when Joe Jimenez allowed a single in the eighth. Things got worse when AJ Minter allowed a two-run walk-off homer in the ninth.
This conclusion was more memorable. Freed’s 109-pitch, seven-inning effort was marred by just three walks. Jimenez pitched around eighth-inning walks. Iglesias then got two quick outs before allowing Martinez to drive a solo over the right-center field wall.
“It’s great to be a part of it almost. [no-hitter]’ or ’26-outer,'” Braves center fielder Michael Harris II said. “This season or sometime in the near future, we might get one out.”
Freed’s latest start adds to the excitement of what he can do in his next few starts.
Per Elias Sports Bureau, Fred is the first MLB pitcher since Blake Snell in 2021 to throw at least six no-hit innings twice. He is the first Braves pitcher to do so since Kevin Millwood in 1999 (June 6 and 17).
Harris snapped an 0-for-29 skid with a three-hit effort and pitched a spectacular home run in the seventh to preserve Fred’s no-hit bid. But on Saturday afternoon, Atlanta gave reason to believe it would bounce back.
Freed allowed three earned runs while being thrown in the first inning of his opening day start. He then gave up six runs in the first inning of the next outing. Fried posted a 1.85 ERA over the next 43 2/3 innings. That includes allowing four runs over seven innings on May 5 at Dodger Stadium.
“Baseball is a crazy game,” Freed said. “Personally, I felt like I threw the ball better in LA. [than I did against the Mets], but the results were not there. Most of the time, you need things to go your way.
Fried got some help after Pete Alonso walked with one out in the seventh. Martinez found Harris’ glove before hitting the center field wall following a line drive on a 105.4 mph bat.
“I found out in the fifth inning when I looked back at the scoreboard and realized no one remembered hitting,” Harris said. “So I just kept it to myself and knew I had to try to get anything.”
Harris and first baseman Matt Olsen both grew up as Braves fans in suburban Atlanta, but neither seemed familiar with Merker. That is somewhat understandable. Olsen was born a week before Mercer snapped the club’s latest no-hitter. Harris came along seven years later.