Starting pitchers Max Fried and Joe Musgrove exit early with injuries in Braves-Padres playoff game

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Atlanta Braves left-hander Max Fried and San Diego Padres right-hander Joe Musgrove exited early because of injuries Wednesday night in Game 2 of their NL Wild Card Series.

Fried, who can become a free agent after the World Series, was done after two innings in what could be his final start for Atlanta. He was hit on his left hip by a comebacker from Fernando Tatis Jr. two batters into his outing.

Fried stayed in and escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first, but then allowed five runs on six straight hits with two outs in the second.

“It was his hip,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “As the inning wore on it affected him. The longer he was out there, the worse he got.”

Dylan Lee took over to begin the third inning, but the damage was done. Atlanta’s comeback fell short and the banged-up Braves were eliminated as the Padres completed a two-game sweep with a 5-4 victory.

Musgrove threw two slow curveballs to fall behind 2-1 on Matt Olson with two outs in the fourth and was visited by pitching coach Ruben Niebla. Padres manager Mike Shildt and an athletic trainer joined them, and Musgrove came out.

The team announced he had right elbow tightness.

Musgrove said it was “frustrating. I want to be out there and finish the job. This is the last thing I want in my first postseason outing, but that’s just the reality of it. It’s coming at a bad time, but I’ll address it, I’ll find the best possible path to get back and do my best to get back here as soon as I can.”

Musgrove participated in both the on-field celebration and the wild clubhouse party afterward. His status for the remainder of the postseason is unclear, including the best-of-five Division Series against the rival Dodgers that begins Saturday in Los Angeles.

“If you’re not a pitcher, it’s very difficult to explain. I just had a hard time getting to full extension and letting pitches go,” Musgrove said. “There wasn’t a whole lot of confidence behind it. I had two outs in the inning. I was hoping to be able to get through the inning and then address it in between, but I didn’t make it to that point.”

Musgrove, who grew up in suburban El Cajon, had two stints on the injured list with right elbow inflammation this season, costing him a total of 63 games. His second stint sidelined him for 2 1/2 months.

“It would be irresponsible to get too deep into this,” Shildt said. “He said he was going to do everything he can — I put nothing past Joe Musgrove — to be able to come back.

“Something just didn’t feel right in his elbow. Structurally they feel it is OK, but we’ll get more evaluations as we go.”

Musgrove threw the first no-hitter in Padres history on April 9, 2021, in his second start with his hometown team after being obtained in an offseason trade with Pittsburgh.

Fried was a first-round draft pick of the Padres in 2012. He was traded to Atlanta in a six-player deal in December 2014. He made his big league on Aug. 8, 2017. He started and won the clinching Game 6 of the 2021 World Series against Houston.

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