The Yankees managed just two runs in six innings off last night’s starter, Tanner Gordon entering that contest with a career ERA well over eight. They got off to a similarly lethargic start facing Kyle Freeland today, managing just a run through the first four. However, the Rockies leveling the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth seemed to light a fire under every hitter in the Yankees lineup, because they unleashed a hit parade in the fifth. They sent a total of 14 men to the plate, and seven hits, one error, three walks, two sac flies later, the Bombers had themselves an 11-1 lead.
New York kept the foot on the gas pedal, and though the double-digit explosion proved an impossible act to follow, the hitters continued to rake, with Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, Anthony Volpe, Jasson Domínguez, DJ LeMahieu, and Austin Wells each contributing multi-hit efforts. They finished with a season-high 21 hits on the contest, which was a bit of overkill considering the way Max Fried pitched yet again. He allowed one run in 7.1 innings and easily could have completed the game, but it’s a minor nit to pick from a much-needed 13-1 victory to wash away the disappointment of the series-opening loss.
Following the team-wide dud at the plate on Friday night, Aaron Judge wasted no time getting the Yankees on the board. After a leadoff single from Goldschmidt that was erased by a Trent Grisham GIDP, Judge went oppo on a full count heater for his 18th home run of the year.
Due to happenstance and irregular interleague scheduling prior to 2023, Judge had never played in Coors Field during his first nine MLB seasons (save for the 2021 All-Star Game). He now has homers in back-to-back games. The captain also retook sole possession of the league lead in home runs after tying Shohei Ohtani and Kyle Schwarber with his solo homer yesterday. Bellinger followed with a hustle double, but Volpe grounded weakly to third to strand him at second.
Fried has been brilliant in his debut season in pinstripes and particularly following a loss, where he owns a 0.53 in five starts. He gave up a single to Jordan Beck to lead off the first but immediately picked off the left fielder en route to an eight-pitch inning. He worked a 1-2-3 second that included a pair of sparkling defensive stops by Oswald Peraza at third sandwiched around a strikeout. Then in the third, Fried yielded a one-out single to Aaron Schunk but erased him from the base paths with another brilliant pickoff move — already his league-leading sixth of the season.
Although the Yankees managed several baserunners, Freeland worked a scoreless second, third, and fourth. This meant that New York had scored just one run in the first four innings in back-to-back contests against a starting staff with the worst ERA in baseball (6.77). The Bombers came out for the fifth with a newfound determination, but even the most optimistic fan could not have predicted the outburst that would unfold.
Wells led off with a single and scored to immediately retake the lead on a Peraza double to left-center off a center-cut first-pitch cutter. Goldschmidt drew a walk to put a pair on for the recently scuffling Grisham, and sometimes all it takes to snap out of a mini-slump is some help from the other team. He topped a weak chopper to the pitcher, but Freeland threw the ball into right field to allow Peraza to score. This made it an easy decision to intentionally walk Judge with first base open, and Bellinger punished the Rockies’ cowardice with a sac fly to plate the Yankees’ fourth run.
Volpe ricocheted an RBI single off of second base, allowing Judge to advance to third where he would score on a Domínguez sac fly. This is where the offense shifted into another gear, LeMahieu singling to put a pair on for Wells, whose double into the gap in right plated both runners to make it 8-1 Yankees. Peraza walked and Goldschmidt cracked his third single in as many ABs to drive in Wells. With runners on the corners, Grisham smoked a double off the wall in right to drive in the ninth and tenth runs of the inning and also give every starter in the Yankees a lineup a hit with the fifth inning still not over. However, Judge stuck out to bestow some mercy upon the Rockies pitchers, but not before the Bombers had struck for their second 10-run inning of the season.
Pitching with such a large lead freed Fried up to attack the zone with impunity, leading to quick innings and an incredibly pitch efficient outing. The lone damage came in the fourth inning, Ezequiel Tovar reaching on a one-out single and advancing to second as Goldschmidt whiffed the catch on a Fried pickoff attempt. This allowed Tovar to jog home on a Michael Toglia triple, but from that point on Fried locked it down — no doubt helped by the 10 runs his offense would score in the following half-inning.
Fried finished his day allowing a run on six hits and a walk against seven strikeouts, needing just 83 pitches to complete 7.1 innings. His ERA remains at 1.29, best in MLB and the lowest by a Yankee in his first 11 starts since earned runs became an official stat in 1913.
The offense looked like it wanted to keep pouring it on, loading the bases in the sixth on three straight one-out singles by Volpe, Domínguez, and LeMahieu, but strikeouts by Wells and Peraza stranded all three ducks on the pond. They’d manage a final flourish in the eighth, Bellinger leading off with a triple and walking home on a Volpe double to left. Domínguez drew a walk to set up LeMahieu’s third single of the contest, driving home Volpe as the Yankees 13th and final run.
Defensive subs J.C. Escarra and Pablo Reyes even managed to get in on the act with hits in a scoreless ninth, as well as Bellinger’s third of the game. Ian Hamilton recorded the final five outs of the game including three strikeouts to put a bow on the 13-1 victory.
The Yankees go for the series victory tomorrow afternoon with Will Warren looking to log his fourth straight dominant start against Anthony Senzatela. First pitch is scheduled for 3:10 pm EDT with the broadcast remaining on YES.
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