The secret sauce to the Braves success so far this season has certainly been their offense.

And it looked as if that would be the case again on Monday with a first inning two run bomb from Austin Riley.

However, those were the only two runs of the game, as the Atlanta staff took care of the rest in a 2-0 series opening victory against the Padres. Dylan Lee, Jesse Chavez, and AJ Minter each did excellent to shut down the San Diego offense for the last four innings, but the story of the night was the return of Atlanta’s ace. Over five innings, Fried produced four strikeouts while only giving up four hits. And he did it with only 79 pitches, as the Braves were able to ease him back into his first start since returning from the injured list.

Hopefully a few more Braves will return from injury soon as well, but having Fried back is a big boost to the rotation.

Braves News

• To reinstate Fried, the Braves placed lefty Lucas Luetge on the 15 day injured list.
• Matt Powers looks at the Braves success on the farm from the weekend.

MLB News

• Jacob deGrom of the Rangers had to exit his start with a wrist injury after only four innings.
• Corbin Burnes of the Brewers also had to exit his start early with a pectoral strain.
• The Twins and righty Pablo Lopez agreed to a 4-year, $73.5M extension on Monday.