BALTIMORE – Max Fried is scheduled for one final regular season start next week, a tune-up for October.
Naturally, the Yankees’ ace lefty is lined up to pitch in the best-of-three wild card series opener – assuming the AL standings stay aligned as they are.
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And this is exactly how you want your most important starter rolling toward October – with a 5-0 record and 1.60 ERA over his last six starts and feeling atop his game.
“That’s when you want to really hit your stride, into the last week or so,’’ Fried said after a dominant performance in Thursday night’s 7-0 win against the Orioles at Camden Yards.
“We’re excited, and we want to go out there and finish it off and go into the playoffs strong.’’
Fried matched a career best with a season-high 13 strikeouts across seven efficient innings, using just 87 pitches and yielding only three hits (all singles) and a walk.
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“He’s obviously going out there with a lot of confidence right now,’’ said manager Aaron Boone, calling it “a good win off a late night,’’ as the Yanks arrived from Minneapolis about 3:30 a.m.
With nine games left, the Yanks (86-67) are three games behind AL East-leading Toronto, but Boone’s club owns a two-game lead for the top wild card spot.
That top wild card receives home field advantage in a best-of-three series, potentially putting Fried on the mound at Yankee Stadium in Game 1 against – well, the Mariners, Red Sox and Astros are all in the mix.
Max Fried, Yankees gaining momentum at a critical time
Sep 18, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; New York Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt (48) celebrates with New York Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger (35) after scoring a run during the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images
Fried became the first Yankees starter since Gerrit Cole (in 2021) to strike out at least 13 batters in a single game.
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And the Yanks couldn’t have asked much more from Fried, who signed a $218 million free agent contract to be Cole’s wingman into October – only to emerge as the team’s outright ace, due to Cole’s season-ending elbow surgery in March.
Against a last-place Baltimore team (72-81) that had won 11 of its 15 games, Fried reached career highs in wins (18) and starts (31), and lowered his season ERA to 2.92.
“Feeling really good physically, feel like I did toward the beginning of the year,’’ said Fried, who posted a 1.92 ERA over his first 17 starts.
Fried’s next eight starts, coinciding with a blister issue, saw him pitch to a 6.80 ERA before steering out of that slide in late August.
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“I wish I could’ve learned the lesson a little differently but it’s always about making an adjustment,’’ said Fried, who leaned into his strengths.
Mostly, that meant trusting his diverse arsenal.
“Max did an amazing job, just attacked so well,’’ said Paul Goldschmidt, who saw this version of Fried “so many times’’ during his NL career.
“Number one, you don’t know what you’re going to get. He’s got so many pitches.’’
According to MLB Statcast, Fried unleashed sinkers at 26 percent of the time Thursday, followed by changeups (17 percent), curveballs (16), four-seam fastballs (14), cutters (14) and sliders (13).
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Boone felt that Fried’s changeup Thursday night was his best of the year, inducing eight whiffs in 10 swings, while Fried’s four-seam fastball registered as high as 98.5-mph.
In seventh, Fried opened the inning by striking out Jeremiah Jackson and Coby Mayo, exceeding his previous season high of 11 Ks on April 9, a frigid day in Detroit.
Fried said he had “no idea’’ what his strikeout total was entering that inning. “I was just out there pitching.’’
Amed Rosario responds in difficult Yankees’ reserve roleAgainst O’s lefty starter Cade Povich, the Yanks started an all right-handed hitting infield.
Anthony Volpe was back at shortstop, Jose Caballero played third base, Goldschmidt (2-for-5, RBI) at first base and Amed Rosario with a rare start at second base.
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In just his sixth start since arriving at the trade deadline from the Washington Nationals, Rosario – batting in the No. 5 spot – gave the Yanks a 2-0 lead with a first-inning, two-run double.
Rosario’s line drive hit came with two out, increasing his batting average to .324 (35-for-108) vs. lefty pitching this season.
“I love the energy he brings to the field every day,’’ Boone said of Rosario, batting .400 (10-for-25) in just 13 games as a Yankee. “He’s turned into kind of a lefty killer (and) he’s always ready.’’
“Living with” Jose Caballero’s aggressive running style
Sep 18, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; New York Yankees shortstop Jose Caballero (72) singles during the second inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images
Before the Yanks’ four-run seventh inning – capped by Giancarlo Stanton’s two-run double – they managed to make two unforced errors on the bases.
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After a second-inning bunt single, Caballero (1-for-2, two walks) got himself picked off first base after taking one of his patented, huge bouncing leads.
In an ill-timed attempt to steal third base with one out and runners at first and second, Jazz Chisholm Jr. (pinch-hit double) was picked off second base – wrecking a chance for the Yanks to pad a 3-0 lead.
However, Volpe’s aggressive baserunning – hustling a leadoff double to center – led to a run in the fifth.
Volpe promptly stole second base and scored on Austin Wells’ single for a 3-0 lead.
In acknowledging that Caballero had to be more careful in that situation, “you’ve got to live with some of it,’’ Boone said of the aggressive tactics of MLB’s stolen base leader.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Aimed at October, Yankees’ lefty ace Max Fried dominates at Baltimore