Atlanta Braves left-hander Max Fried exited his Opening Day start against the Washington Nationals on Thursday with left hamstring discomfort, the team announced.
Fried winced as he he ran to cover first base for the initial out of the fourth inning and was removed after 43 pitches. He gave up one run on four hits while striking out two batters. It was his third consecutive start on Opening Day for the reigning NL East champions.
The Braves went on to win the game 7-2.
Braves manager Brian Snitker and a team trainer went out to the mound to check on the left-hander, who threw one pitch to test his leg before heading toward the visiting dugout at Nationals Park.
Fried was replaced by Lucas Luetge, who earned the victory, with the Braves holding a 4-1 lead.
Fried, 29, is coming off an All-Star campaign in 2022, when he went 14-7 with a 2.48 ERA in 30 starts. He was the runner-up in voting for the NL Cy Young Award behind Miami’s Sandy Alcantara.
He didn’t allow a run in four spring training starts, striking out 19 in 14 1/3 innings.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.