Spencer Jones debuts, but Yankees offense silenced by Brewers

The Yankees were shut out 6-0 by the Brewers in Spencer Jones Major League debut. Max Fried got the starting nod for the Yankees and faced off against Jacob Misiorowski. 

“A little nervous, a lot of adrenaline, but having my family there was really special,” Jones said of his first Major League at-bat. “It was a moment I'll never forget.”

Trent Grisham, Ben Rice and Aaron Judge went down in order in the top half of the first inning. Fried responded in the bottom of the inning with a three-up, three-down frame. 

In the top of the second inning, Spencer Jones got his first taste of the big leagues, getting blown away with a couple of 104 mph fastballs, striking out on four pitches in his first MLB at-bat. 

“I mean, he's got an electric fastball,” Jomes said. “And I guess never seen pitches that hard in my life, and being able to foul off a couple is pretty great. So I'll take that for now.”

The Brewers kicked off the scoring in the bottom of the second with four runs against Fried. Former Yankee farmhand Brandon Lockridge got things started with an RBI base knock, and Sal Frelick followed with an RBI single of his own. Joey Ortiz bounced into a fielder's choice to bring across another run, and Jackson Churio brought across another run with an RBI single. 

“It's baseball,” Fried said. “You got to be able to make the pitches. You got be able do what you need to do to get out of that situation. And four runs there is definitely me not doing my job.”

The Brewers made it 5-0 in the bottom of the third on an RBI single from Lockridge. Lockridge got hurt sliding into the wall in foul territory down the left field foul line in the top of the fourth inning and had to be carted off the field. 

Jones reached base for the first time in his career with one out in the top of the fifth as he worked a walk. José Caballero followed with a single, but Austin Wells and Ryan McMahon both struck out to strand both runners. 

Fried faced the minimum in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to a 4-6-3 double play ending Fried's night. 

Kervin Castro replaced Fried in the bottom of the seventh inning and surndered a run on an RBI single by William Contreras, making it 6-0. 

Final line for Fried: Six innings pitched, six hits allowed, five earned runs, walked three, and struck out five on 94 pitches. He threw his cutter 32% of the time, the sinker 17%, the curveball 16%, the sweeper 13%, the fastball 12%, and the changeup 11%. Fried topped out at 97 mph and sat at 94.4, while inducing 10 swings and misses. 

Castro remained in the game for the top of the eighth inning and retired the Brewers in order with a strikeout. 

In the top of the ninth, Judge singled to right, but that would be all for the Yankees as they were shut out for the third time this year. 

The Yankees will look to bounce back tomorrow with Cam Schlittler on the mound, facing off against Kyle Harrison. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET on the YES Network. 

My thoughts on the game: Misiorowski just absolutely shut down the Yankees' offense tonight with 11 strikeouts; sometimes you have to just tip your hat; he was unhittable tonight. Fried had a brutal second inning, but he was able to settle in and give the Yankees six decent innings. Jones had a tough task in his Major League debut, facing Misiorowski; he punched out a couple of times and worked a walk. Not much more to say than that, on to tomorrow, hopefully the Yankees will bounce back and win the series.