Takeaways from Atlanta's Saturday afternoon series-clinching win against San Francisco

Max Fried and the offense dominated the young San Francisco Giants squad for Atlanta's 40th road win of the season, MLB's best away record

The Atlanta Braves relied on timely hitting and veteran guile to take down the San Francisco Giants, 7-3, on Saturday afternoon from Oracle Park. Here's what you need to know about the series-clinching victory.

A vintage Max Fried performance on Saturday against the Giants

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Ah, THAT'S the Max Fried we were all waiting to see. 

Fried, making his fifth start since being activated off of the 60-Day IL with a forearm strain, threw it back to the Max Fried that we knew and loved. 

Max went six full innings, scattering six hits and two runs, with eight strikeouts to only two walks. He gave up one homerun, on an 0-1 slider that caught too much of the plate and Wilmer Flores was able to send out to center field. 

Max allowed six total hard-hit balls in the outing, with only the one homer and two singles back up the middle coming out of it. 

Having a second ace-level pitcher is something Atlanta's been missing all season and will desperately be needed once the postseason arrives, and as Fried continues to put distance between himself and the forearm strain, he's showing he can answer the call as a #1 starter in October. 

The Big Bombers got back to their winning ways

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Matt Olson and Austin Riley have been pretty quiet recently, with the two combining for only one home run and 3 RBIs on the nine-game homestand that wrapped up on Wednesday in Atlanta - the 7-2 record for the Braves was fueled by big contributions from lesser-heralded batters, like Michael Harris II, Eddie Rosario, and Marcell Ozuna. 

But the boys got after it today in San Francisco. 

Olson had RBIs in the 1st and 3rd innings, while Riley launched a solo shot in the 5th and they combined for four hits and three total RBIs in Atlanta's victory today. Riley also put on an absolute clinic at third base today, picking multiple slow rollers and hot shots alike. 

Atlanta may have the deepest lineup in baseball on any given day, but when these two are on their games, Atlanta also has some of the best top-end production of any lineup and it just becomes that much harder for opposing pitching staffs. 

Is Orlando Arcia...back?

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The Braves shortstop has had a quiet August, batting only .197 entering today. But the process hasn't been bad - hard-hit balls a-plenty, good pitch recognition keeping the strikeouts to a manageable level, and the baseball gods have rewarded Orlando's patience. 

Arcia got the rare middle-middle fastball from former Braves reliever Luke Jackson and launched it to dead center for his 15th homer of the year, tying his career-highs from 2017 & 2019. 

Arcia's slugging .476 over the last seven days, and with Ozzie Albies' imminent return pushing Michael Harris II back to his preferred 9-hole, the bottom of this Braves lineup is about to return to "opposing pitcher nightmare fuel" territory.  

What's next for the Atlanta Braves? 

The Braves have another date with the folks over at Sunday Night Baseball, with Sunday's 7:10 ET first pitch being a national broadcast on ESPN. The radio call is available in the Atlanta metro area on 680 The Fan, across the Southeast on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network, and nationally on MLB.tv.

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