Max Fried has not only stepped up as the team’s ace in Gerrit Cole’s absence, but he has excelled in the role of stopper, pitching to a 0.66 ERA in six starts immediately following a Yankees loss, the Bombers winning all six of those contests. There was extra pressure to maintain that trend tonight, Fried coming off his worst start of the season last time out against the Dodgers, and he shoved yet again for six scoreless innings. Cody Bellinger got the Yankees on the board early with a two-run bomb, and a pair of RBI singles from Bellinger and Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the seventh and some gutsy relief work by Tim Hill locked up the 4-0 victory and another series win.
Fried got himself into a bit of a jam in the first, tallying a pair of quick strikeouts of Steven Kwan and Angel Martínez, but then giving up a 39 mph exit velocity broken-bat single to José Ramírez. J-Ram advanced to second as Ben Rice whiffed a pickoff attempt and stole third, followed by a David Fry walk and steal of second. However, Fried won an eight-pitch battle with Carlos Santana, getting the first baseman to pop out to strand the pair in scoring position.
The Yankees’ at-bats were looking dismayingly like the team-wide dud in last night’s shutout loss, the only baserunner the first turn through the order an Aaron Judge hit-by-pitch. They finally found some success in the fourth with the top of the order facing Cecconi for the second time. Judge broke up the no-hitter with a bloop double down the line in right and Bellinger demolished the very next pitch Cecconi threw for a two-run blast to right, his ninth home run on the year.
They had another golden opportunity to widen their advantage the following inning, but produced one of the most deflating rally-killers imaginable. They loaded the bases with no outs on a pair of singles by Austin Wells and Oswald Peraza and a Trent Grisham walk, but Rice rolled over a breaking ball for the back-breaking bases-loaded double play that erases the runner at home. Bellinger flew out to center field and just like that the Yankees let Cecconi Houdini himself out of the jam.
Fortunately for the offense, Fried found his groove after contending with elevated pitch counts in the first and second innings. He allowed just one more baserunner after the first inning — a one-out walk of Bo Naylor in the fifth. He’s been throwing the fastball more than at any point in his career — two-thirds of his pitches are either a four-seamer or sinker. This came back to bite him in Los Angeles as pretty much every Dodgers hitter was hunting the heater. He featured a much more varied diet of sweepers and curveballs tonight, resulting in a Guardians lineup that looked off-balance for six innings. He finished his day having thrown six scoreless, allowing just a hit and two walks against seven strikeouts on 103 pitches to lower his season ERA to 1.78.
In the seventh, it looked like the offense would be punished for failing to come through. Ramírez led off with a single followed by a Santana single to put a pair on with one out. It appeared Mark Leiter Jr. got just the double play ball he needed, but Anthony Volpe uncorked a wild throw to third and just like that the Guardians had the bases loaded with one out, knocking Leiter from the game. Hill entered an unenviable situation, but he was nails, striking out Bo Naylor and getting Noel to fly out to leave the bases juiced. He’d record a 1-2-3 eighth to give the Yankees five crucial outs.
As if buoyed by Hill’s performance, the offense finally broke through for some insurance runs in the eighth. Peraza led off with a single, but after two quick outs, the Guardians felt safe intentionally walking Judge for the second time. Bellinger made them pay, grounding a single through the right side to plate Peraza. Chisholm followed with his third single of the night, a line drive up the middle to bring Judge home as the Yankees’ fourth run.
Jonathan Loáisiga pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to secure the shutout, 4-0, and get the Yankees back in the series win column. It’s a much-needed way to bounce back from the meeting with the Dodgers, as the Yankees have now won eight of their last nine series.
Tomorrow sees the age-old rivalry reignited, the Red Sox coming to town for a three game set. Will Warren gets the series opener against Walker Buehler. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm ET with the broadcast remaining on YES.
Box Score
