Max Fried’s gem lifts Yankees to season-high 19 games over .500

Baltimore—The Yankees took down the Orioles 7-0 to improve to a season high 19 games above .500. Max Fried got the starting nod for the Yankees and faced off against Cade Povich. 

Paul Goldschmidt led off the ballgame with a line drive single just off the glove of Gunnar Henderson. A couple of batters later, Cody Bellinger worked a walk, then Amed Rosario came through with a big two-out two-run double to put the Yankees in front 2-0. 

In the bottom of the first inning, Fried retired the Orioles in order on just 11 pitches. 

Fried struck out the Orioles in order in the bottom of the third inning to put his strikeout total up to five on the night. Fried also set a new career high in punch-outs with 174 in his first season in the Bronx. 

Anthony Volpe legged out a lead-off hustle double in the top of the fourth inning, then immediately swiped third base, his 17th stolen base of the year. José Caballero followed that up with a walk, the next batter, Austin Wells, dunked in a RBI bloop single to make it a 3-0 game. 

Jazz Chisholm Jr. pinch hit for Rosario in the top of the sixth inning and lined a double into the right field corner. Trent Grisham followed that up with a walk, and Chisholm was caught stealing to kill the Yankees rally. 

Fried served up a pair of singles in the bottom of the sixth inning, but recorded three more punch-outs to help work into and out of trouble, as well as tie a season high with 11 strikeouts. 

In the top of the seventh inning, Caballero and Wells worked back-to-back walks to set the Yankees up. Goldy Knocks then came through with an RBI single down the first base line to make it a 4-0 ballgame. Aaron Judge then tacked on another run via a sacrifice fly, making it a 5-0 game. The next batter, Belli, worked a walk, then Giancorlao Stanton sent a ripped two-run double down the third base line to make it a 7-0 game. 

Fried worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh inning with a couple more strikeouts to match a career high with 13 on the night. 

Paul Blackburn replaced Fried on the mound in the bottom of the eighth inning and retired the Orioles in order, picking up a strikeout in the process. 

Max Fried's final line: Seven shutout innings, three hits allowed, one walk, 25 swings and misses, and 13 strikeouts on 87 pitches. Fried did a great job mixing in all his pitches, throwing his sinker 26% of the time, the changeup 17%, the curveball 16%, the cutter 14%, the fastball 14%, the sweeper 11%, and the slider 1% of the time. To say Fried had it all working tonight would be an understatement; he was absolutely dominant from start to finish. I would have liked to see him pitch the eighth inning, but with the playoffs right around the corner, there's no need to push him. Friends ERA is now 2.92 on the season with a career high 182 strikeouts.  

"I was able to locate both sides of the plate today and had a really good feel for my change-up," Fried said. "Yeah, just really good feel for my change up, and I had a lot better command." 

"Probably the best I've seen him this year," Goldy said on Fried. "But I mean, he's just tough; he goes there and competes. He's got seven different pitches. You never know what he's going to throw. I'm just glad I'm on his team now."

Blackburn remained in the game for the bottom of the ninth inning and picked up the final three outs to give the Yankees a game one victory. 

The Yankees will look to win a fourth straight tomorrow and improve to 20 games above .500 with Will Warren on the mound, facing off against Trevor Rogers. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET on the YES Network. 

My thoughts on the game: Fried had everything working tonight, arguably his best start as a Yankee. Blackburn also pitched two shutout innings to end this one, giving the rest of the bullpen the night off. Goldy had two knocks tonight and an RBI. Staton had a pair of RBIs as well. Amed Rosario, who played the first five innings due to the lefty starter, had a couple of RBIs to get the offense going. And Judge got on base twice, thanks to a couple of walks, and had an RBI. The Blue Jays also lost today, so the Yankees are now just three games back in the AL East with nine games to play. Although it's unlikely the Yankees will catch them, it's still possible. On to tomorrow, as the Yankees will look to keep it going, as they have now won 17 of their last 24 games. 

"I think we're just playing solid team baseball," Goldy said. "And, you know, when we're struggling and we're winning, nobody panicked, everyone stuck together. We weren't playing our best, but we just continued to work and push forward. It's been good to have some good results this last month. But you know, we got a lot more work to do, and hopefully we can do it."