ATLANTA — A couple days before his start, the Braves’ Max Fried was talking to Travis d’Arnaud, and the catcher mentioned something in passing.

“Next time you go out there,” d’Arnaud told Fried, “I want a complete game.”

Fried delivered: On Tuesday versus the Marlins, the left-hander threw his fourth career shutout and his third of the nine-inning variety. (Fried had a five-inning shutout in a rain-shortened game last season.) The Braves beat the Marlins, 5-0, as Fried hurled the first and last pitches of the game.

He tossed a “Maddux” — the baseball term for a shutout thrown in under 100 pitches, fittingly named after Braves Hall of Famer Greg Maddux, who logged 13 such games. Fried now has three.

On Tuesday, Fried spun his three-hitter to the tune of one hour and 54 minutes — the shortest game, by time, in Truist Park’s eight-year history, including postseason contests.

Five observations on Fried’s masterpiece:

— 1. As everyone looked up at the scoreboard in the later innings, a thought prevailed: Fried could actually go nine.

“In the seventh inning, I was looking at his pitch total thinking, ‘This is what it should be in five,’” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He was kind of two innings ahead of things. Kind of had a good feeling that he was gonna be able to go nine — or get into the ninth inning — anyway.”

Added Adam Duvall: “I remember looking up (in the) sixth, seventh inning at his pitch count, because that’s what I was kind of looking at, and it was just low.”

Fried epitomized efficiency. He completed nine innings in 92 pitches (69 strikes) — including an eight-pitch ninth frame. Through six innings, he was at 57 pitches. Through seven, he was at 72.

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