BALTIMORE — With the Yankees’ hopes of a division title dwindling, the club capitalized on a chance to gain ground in the American League East on Thursday as Max Fried dominated the Orioles.
The series-opening triumph, a 7-0 win at Camden Yards, followed losses from Toronto, Boston and Detroit as the Bombers improved to 86-67 with nine games left in the season. That doesn’t give the Yankees much time to win the American League East — they trail the Blue Jays by three games, and Toronto holds the tiebreaker — but the possibility remains in play with New York now in sole possession of the second best record in the American League.
The Yankees, who got to their Baltimore hotel around 3:30 a.m. after playing in Minnesota on Wednesday evening, also have a two-game lead over the Astros and Mariners for the top AL Wild Card spot.
“We’re playing some pretty good baseball right now,” Fried said with the postseason rapidly approaching. “That’s when you want to really hit your stride. So going into the last week or so, we’re excited and want to go out there and go into the playoffs strong.”
Fried played an instrumental part in the Yankees’ latest victory, as he threw seven scoreless innings while tying a career-high with 13 strikeouts on Thursday.
With a six-pitch arsenal at his disposal — Aaron Boone said the economical Fried had his best changeup of the season — the pitcher induced 45 swings and 28 whiffs while also tallying three hits, one walk and 87 pitches.
“I love watching him pitch,” Boone declared after the game. “It’s a lot of fun when he’s in a rhythm like that.”
Fried now has 18 wins this season, a new career-high. The left-hander has also totaled 182 strikeouts, 31 starts and 188.1 innings in his first season with the Yankees. Each are personal bests, while his ERA is down to 2.92.
While Fried insisted he doesn’t pay much attention to his numbers — “As long as we have more runs than the other team, I’m pretty happy,” he said — Boone feels the 31-year-old has been as advertised after the Yankees doled out a record-setting eight-year, $218 million contract in December.
“He’s had a phenomenal year to this point,” the manager said. “On top of that, the kind of person and teammate he is, he’s everything you’d want in bringing somebody in to be a featured guy in your rotation.”
Fried’s stellar first season in pinstripes hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows, as he endured a seven-start stretch from July 1 to Aug. 16 that saw him log a 6.80 ERA. However, he is 5-0 with a 1.60 ERA over his last six starts, the best of which came on Thursday.
“I feel like he’s in a really good spot, throwing the ball well,” Boone said. “He went through a little lull there in the middle of the season and kind of dug himself out of that. Hopefully, going through stuff like that, you learn things and it allows you to make adjustments that you need to make, and he’s done that. I feel like he’s obviously going out there with a lot of confidence right now.”
Asked how he turned things around, Fried said he’s been “sticking to my strengths,” which include using his full repertoire and changing speeds. Now, with October right around the corner, he is pitching like the best version of himself.
“I’m feeling really good,” said Fried, who began his season with a 1.92 ERA over 17 starts. “Physically, I feel like I did towards the beginning of the year.”
Looking every bit like the ace he’s being paid to be, Fried benefitted from an early lead, as Amed Rosario ripped a two-out, two-run double off Orioles southpaw Cade Povich in the first inning. Rosario, playing for the first time since Sunday, entered the game slashing .318/.345/.514 vs. left-handed pitchers this season.
“He’s turned into kind of a lefty killer,” Boone said, “but he’s always ready.”
The Yankees scored again in the fifth inning when Austin Wells plated Anthony Volpe with a bloop single. Volpe reached with a hustle double and went on to steal third base.
The seventh inning brought four more Yankees home, as Paul Goldschmidt shot an RBI single down the first base line before Aaron Judge roped a sac fly to left field. Giancarlo Stanton proceeded with a two-run double down the third base line.
While the Yankees broke out for seven runs on Thursday, most of the postgame talk revolved around Fried’s performance.
“He made our job easy,” Goldschmidt said.
“A lot of credit to Max tonight,” added Rosario.
With the first game of the series going their way, the Yankees will face another lefty in Trevor Rogers on Friday. Rogers has been excellent this season, posting a 1.43 ERA over 16 starts.
Rookie right-hander Will Warren will take the ball for the Yankees. He is coming off a poor showing, as he surrendered six first-running runs to the Red Sox on Sept. 14.
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