Fried, Flowers, Freeman power Braves past ChiSox 10-7

ATLANTA (AP) — Max Fried pitched six-plus innings and won his sixth straight decision, Tyler Flowers hit a three-run homer and the surging Atlanta Braves beat the Chicago White Sox 10-7 on Friday night.

Freddie Freeman drove in two runs and Ozzie Albies went 4 for 5 to help the NL East-leading Braves, who have won 10 of 12 to stay 5½ games up in the division.

Fried (15-4) faced the minimum before Eloy Jiménez reached with one out in the fifth on a slow-rolling single down the line at third. The 25-year-old lefty allowed five hits and four runs and matched a career high with 11 strikeouts. He is tied with Washington’s Stephen Strasburg for the NL lead in wins.

The Braves led 4-0 in the second. Josh Donaldson got it going with a walk and used a headfirst slide to score from second on Dansby Swanson’s single. Flowers’ 10th homer landed in the first few rows of the left-field seats.

Atlanta went up 5-0 in the fourth when Albies doubled and scored on Freeman’s double. The Braves led 6-1 in the sixth when Albies’ infield single scored a runner from third.

Chicago starter Iván Nova (9-11) allowed eight hits and five runs — four earned — in four innings. He had posted a 0.94 ERA in seven starts since July 22, the best in the majors over that span.

Adam Engel lined an RBI single to cut the lead to 5-1 in the fifth for Chicago. The White Sox scored four runs in the seventh when Yolmer Sánchez chased Fried with an RBI single and Welington Castillo added a pinch-hit, three-run homer off Luke Jackson.

Adeiny Hechavarria’s pinch-hit, two-run single in the bottom of the seventh put Atlanta up 8-5. In the eighth, Freeman singled to drive in a run and scored on a fielder’s choice to make it 10-5.

Anthony Swarzak gave up two runs in the ninth, prompting Braves manager Brian Snitker to bring in closer Mark Melancon. With a runner on third, Melancon struck out Tim Anderson, his only batter, to earn his fifth save in five chances with Atlanta.

TRAINER’S ROOM

White Sox: OF Jon Jay (right hip) will undergo surgery and will miss the rest of the season. The 34-year-old Jay began the season on the injured list with a hip strain and wasn’t activated until June 24 in the journeyman’s only season with the team. He hit .267 with no homers and nine RBIs in 47 games.

Braves: C Brian McCann (left knee) will return from the injured list Sunday. … Austin Riley (right knee) has six hits in his last 14 at-bats of a rehab assignment, but it’s too early to give an immediate timetable for his return. … RF Nick Markakis (left wrist) played catch for the first time, but still hasn’t been cleared to take swings. Though Snitker said Markakis is ahead of schedule, the 2018 All-Star likely won’t return until mid-September.

KEEP PRODUCING

Freeman began the game with the NL lead in RBIs and added two more to reach 109 and tie his single-season career high in 2013.

WHIFFS

Fried also struck out 11 on June 30, 2018, at St. Louis.

BYE-BYE

Chicago manager Rick Renteria was ejected after he argued with home plate umpire Brian Knight during a pitching change in the seventh.

UP NEXT

White Sox: RHP Reynaldo López (8-11, 5.08 ERA) will make his 28th start of the season. He has a 2.82 ERA in nine starts since the All-Star break.

Braves: LHP Dallas Keuchel (5-3, 3.78 ERA) will make his 14th start since joining the Braves mid-season. Keuchel is 4-4 with a 3.49 ERA in nine career starts against the White Sox.