Max

Fried

Fried, who was expecting the birth of his first child while pitching in this elimination contest, surrendered seven hits, including a solo shot to Ryan Vilade and a go-ahead two-run shot to Victor Mesa Jr. in the sixth inning, which wound up being the difference in the low-scoring affair. The 32-year-old lefty allowed five runs over 11 2/3 innings across a pair of playoff starts against AL East opponents this postseason.

Boone seemingly left the door ajar for New York to pivot, adding that Carlos Rodón is in line to start a potential Game 4 matchup. All signs point to Fried toeing the rubber when the series heads back to New York later this week. The 32-year-old southpaw allowed one run over six innings against the Red Sox to close out the AL Wild Card Series last Wednesday. It’ll be Fried’s 16th career postseason start and 24th appearance overall since 2018.

It wasn’t an overpowering performance, but Fried kept putting zeroes on the scoreboard, carrying a shutout into the sixth inning before coughing up a solo homer to Willson Contreras with two outs in the frame. The 32-year-old lefty finished with six strikeouts and only issued one walk. He got plenty of support from New York’s as they piled up nine runs on 14 hits in the one-sided affair. He figures to take the ball at some point in the early stages of the AL Division Series against the Rays next week.

That means that Max Fried will pitch for the Yankees in Game 2 while Gerrit Cole would be waiting in the wings for Game 3 if necessary. Schlittler is certainly deserving of the honor as he posted a brilliant 1.95 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 239 strikeouts over 193 2/3 innings over 33 starts during the regular season and is the favorite to take home Cy Young award honors in the American League.

Three of the runs came in the seventh, when Fried allowed three singles. The second was a 72-mph flyball and the third was a bunt from Taylor Walls on which Fried probably would have had an out at first, except no one was covering the base. Fried left with two outs and one run in, and John Schneider went on to give up a two-run single before finishing the inning. Fried’s regular season ends at 5-5 with a 2.80 ERA in 20 starts. Last year, he was 19-5 with a 2.86 ERA in 32 starts. Fried is likely to start in the Wild Card series against Boston next week.

Fried gave up six hits, walked none and struck out six. He improved to 5-4 on the year with the win. Fried had his longest outing since he returned from injury in July. He has a 2.63 ERA. Fried is lined up to face the Rays at home next week.

Fried punched out seven batters on the night. While the poor command didn’t lead to any trouble, it did lead to Fried needing 80 pitches (48 strikes) to record 10 outs, which is why he was yanked in the middle of the fourth inning. The lone tally against him came on a solo homer by Kyle Karros in the second inning. The 32-year-old southpaw will look to bounce back as he totes a 2.73 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and a 94/31 K/BB ratio (99 innings) into Tuesday’s matchup against the Twins in Minneapolis.

Fried and Will Warren were set to piggyback, but Fried was able to go nearly six while Warren threw 2 1/3 scoreless inning after he departed. The southpaw struck out four, and he walked just one while allowing just an RBI single to Xander Bogaerts in the second. Fried looked good Friday, and he’ll look to continue to lower his ERA from a solid 2.73 against the Rockies at home next week.

That will be this weekend in San Diego. Fried threw 63 pitches in his start on Saturday, so he should be built up to at least 70 pitches by the weekend, but he has also battled a bone bruise in his elbow that has come from hyperextension while pitching. The Yankees may want to keep his pitch count in check before the postseason. For his part, Warren was great on Sunday against the Red Sox, but it seems that his reward might be a few innings of bulk relief in his next outing. That makes it tough to trust either pitcher this week.

Fried gave up three hits, walked one and struck out four. He threw 63 pitches in his first start since returning from an elbow injury. It could take another few starts before the Yankees relax Fried’s pitch count, but overall he pitched well. He’s lined up to face the Padres on the road next weekend.