Hot start, cold finish: Yankees fall to Dodgers in frustrating 8-5 loss

Los Angeles—The Yankees lost a frustrating one, 8-5, to the Dodgers in a World Series rematch. Max Fried got the start for the Yankees, and Tony Gonsolin took the ball for the Dodgers.

Aaron Judge got this World Series rematch started with a bang in the top of the first inning, a 446-foot bomb to dead center to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead, his 19th of the year. 

"It was good the boys came out swinging,” Judge said. “It was a fun atmosphere, that's what you want to play in. But anytime you have Max Fried on the mound, you're just trying to get one or two runs, kinda get an early lead and let him do the rest.”

Shohei Ohtani matched Judge in the bottom of the first, going deep on the first pitch he saw from Fried to tie this game up at 1-1. 

In the top of the second inning, Austin Wells and the Yankees quickly responded. Wells hit a line drive home run to right center that just got out to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead, his ninth bomb of the year.

Jorbit Vivas then worked a walk, a few batters later, Trent Grisham made it a 4-1 game with a two-run home run, his 13th of the year. 

In the bottom of the second, Fried surrendered a one-out double to Tommy Edman. Fried then balked, allowing Edmen to go to third. That balk proved to be costly as Enrique Hernández cut the Yankees' lead in half with a RBI groundout to make it 4-2. 

Paul Goldschmidt led off the top of the third with the Yankees' fourth home run of the game to make it 5-2. An opposite field shot that just cleared the wall for Goldy's sixth bomb of the year. 

Judge made a terrific diving catch to rob Teazcor Hernedez of extra bases for the second out of the bottom of the third inning, and helped Fried retire the Dodgers in order.  

Fried faced the minimum in the bottom of the fourth inning thanks to a pitcher's best friend, a tailor-made 6-4-3 double, followed by Fried's third punchout of the ballgame. 

In the top of the sixth inning, Wells, Vivas, and Oswald Peraza went down in order for the Yankees.

Ohtani led off the bottom of the sixth inning with his second home run of the night to cut into the Yankees' lead, making it 5-3. 

“I wasn't trying to go up,” Fried said on his pitch selection to Ohtani. “He's a good hitter, and I made two mistakes in the same spot, and he hit them out.”

Then, Fried gave up back-to-back singles to Herndez and Will Smith, the next batter, Freddie Freeman picked up a RBI double to make it 5-4 with still nobody out. Jonathan Loáisiga replaced Fried on the mound, and immediately gave up a RBI single to make it a 5-5 game with still no outs. Goldy gunned down the go-ahead run at the plate for the first out of the inning. Tim Hill replaced Loáisiga in a bases-loaded jam and walked Michael Conforto with the bases loaded to force in a run and give the Dodgers a 6-5 lead. The Yankees executed a nine 3-2-3 double play to avoid further trouble. 

Max Fried's final line: five plus innings pitched, eight hits allowed, six earned runs, eight swing and misses, and three strikeouts on 75 pitches. Fried threw his fastball 44% of the time, the sinker 28%, the changeup 12%, the curveball 8%, the sweeper 7%, and the cutter 1% of the time. Fried did not have his best stuff at all tonight, as this was unfortunately his worst start of the season. However, he has been so good that he was due for a clunker; his ERA is now up to 1.80. 

“Mostly just execution,” Fried said. “Just leaving balls over the middle of the plate, not going to the locations I wanted to, and when you're facing a good team with good hitters, they're going to make you pay for it.”

Judge scorched a one-out double into the left field corner in the top of the seventh inning, but Goldy grounded out to strand the tying run. 

Hill remained in the game for the bottom of the seventh and picked up the first out of the frame, then was replaced by Yerry De Los Santos, who recorded the second out, then gave up three straight hits, including a two-run single to extend the Dodgers' lead to 8-5. Brent Headrick replaced De Los Santos and picked up the final out of the seventh.

In the top of the eighth, Rice worked a leadoff walk. A couple of batters later, the pinch-hitting Jasson Dominguez chopped a single to right field, allowing Rice to advance to third base, but the pinch-hitting DJ LeMahieu hit a lazy flyout to end the threat.

Grisham lined a single right back up the middle to lead off the top of the ninth, but Judge, Beli, and Goldy went down without much of a fight as the Yankees lost a frustrating one 8-5.

The Yankees will look to bounce back tomorrow with Will Warren on the mound, and Labdon Knack will take the ball for the Dodgers. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. ET on Fox.

My thoughts on the game: It was a frustrating loss tonight, as Fried just didn't have it from the first pitch. However, you have to cut him some slack, as he’s been so good this year. The offense was great early, as we hit four home runs in the first three innings, but then remained quiet for the last six innings. De Los Santos, whom I have liked a lot this year, also did not have it out of the bullpen. Tomorrow, as Warren (4.09 ERA) takes the mound against Knack (5.22 ERA), the Yankees have a slight pitching advantage, but the Dodgers will be the biggest test of Warren's young career.