Coming off two frustrating losses in Cincinnati, the onus once again fell on the Yankees’ new ace to turn the tide. Max Fried entered the series finale charged to play the stopper and he provided yet another masterpiece. The Yankee offense built him an early lead and, unlike Tuesday night’s frustrating extra-inning loss, added to it as the game went on. Fried took the run support and turned in seven outstanding innings to become the first pitcher to ten wins this season, and his eighth immediately following a Yankee loss. The Bombers escaped the Queen City with a 7-1 win and will finally get their first respite in 16 days.
The Yankees stranded two runners in the first inning despite a leadoff bloop double from Trent Grisham, but another leadoff double from Jasson Domínguez sparked another quick rally. The Yankees quickly loaded the bases with nobody out, and Grisham slapped a ball into right field for an RBI single to open the scoring. But Brady Singer buckled down from there to strike out Aaron Judge and Ben Rice to strand three more.
As Fried kept the Reds quiet, Jazz Chisholm Jr. got his opportunity to take out some frustration from last night, when he got ejected by Mark Wegner. Jazz came out swinging in the third with a man on first and jolted a ball 443 feet to right field. He enjoyed every last bit of his 11th home run of the year, which gave the Yankees the same 3-0 advantage they enjoyed for much of last night.
Chisholm had his defensive struggles with two down in the fourth, when he uncorked an errant throw to first in a rush to retire Spencer Steer. He picked the wrong time to make a throwing error, as Elly De La Cruz took off from second base and was able to score easily as Rice scrambled to collect the ball. Fried quickly got the final out to escape with a 3-1 lead.
The Yankees got a big opportunity to add to their lead in the fifth when they loaded the bases against Singer once again. Volpe appeared to hit a no-doubt sac fly when he lofted a lazy fly to right center, but Rice complicated matters by stopping up a few steps into his sprint home, then inexplicably running back to tag third base a second time before racing to the plate once more. The throw came to the cutoff man De La Cruz, whose peg home was mercifully late, and Rice’s gaffe was inconsequential. It was indeed a sac fly to make it 4-1. Wells then struck out to strand two more runners, bringing the left-on-base tally to seven in the first five innings.
Thankfully, the Yankees didn’t have a monopoly on bad baserunning for tonight — and this blunder actually led to an out. Santiago Espinal reached on a ground-rule double down the right field line, but Fried caught him wandering off second and nailed him with a turnaround pickoff throw. Terry Francona’s challenge was unsuccessful, and the three-run lead was preserved. It would soon grow.
The Yankees forced the taxed Reds bullpen to get to work in the sixth again, and they took advantage. They got a second look at Ian Gibaut and got the first three men aboard, including Judge, who ripped an RBI double to bring home DJ LeMahieu. After a sparkling stop by De La Cruz to rob Rice and save a run, Stanton brought that run home anyway with a high chopper to make it 6-1.
All of a sudden Fried had a nice five-run cushion with which to work, and he quickly retired the side in order in the home half. It was his 13th start out of 17 overall this season in which he went six or more innings. Unlike Rodón last night, he got the opportunity to go into the seventh, and rewarded Boone with another scoreless inning, finishing off with his seventh strikeout. The run he allowed was unearned on four hits and just one walk.
Grisham doubled to lead off the eighth to collect his fourth hit of the night, then a leadoff double in the ninth from Domínguez brought him to the same tally. While Grisham was stranded, Wells slapped an opposite-field single past a drawn-in infield to easily score the Martian to bring home one last insurance run. It was excellent to see these two have big nights at the dish (especially as Domínguez grabbed his latter two hits from the right side of the plate.) Those two will be vital down the stretch if the Yankees want to repeat as division champions.
Fernando Cruz, who famously debuted with the Reds at age 33 after logging a ton of frequent-flyer miles, made a statement in the eighth by striking out the side. JT Brubaker, who arguably should have gotten a chance to close last night’s game, sealed the deal tonight with a scoreless ninth.
The Yankees finally get a day off after a tumultuous 16-day slog in which they went 7-9. They will return home to face the scuffling Athletics in a three-game weekend series starting on Friday. Will Warren, who dazzled in Sacramento earlier this season, will get the ball. The A’s have not yet announced a starter. First pitch is set for 7:05 pm on YES.