NEW YORK — The Guardians had a chance to win their first series at Yankee Stadium since September 2021 on Thursday night.
It didn’t happen as lefty Max Fried and three relievers shut out the Guardians, 4-0, at Yankee Stadium. Fried (8-1, 1.78) threw six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts.
This was a case of answering one shutout with another. The Guardians blanked the Yankees, 4-0, on Wednesday night.
There are no moral victories in the big leagues, but for the first time since 2020, the Guardians did not lose the season series to the Yankees. Instead they split six games with the AL East leaders.
The Guardians have lost six of their last 10 games. They are 14-29 against the Yankees since 2022.
“We know we can play with anybody in the league,” said manager Stephen Vogt. “We’ve proved that over and over.
“We split the season series with them. It is what it is. They’re a really good team and so are we.”
New York’s Cody Bellinger, held to one hit in the first two games of the series, gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead with a first-pitch homer off starter Slade Cecconi in the fourth. Cecconi (1-2, 4.87) started the inning by retiring Ben Rice on a grounder to second, but Aaron Judge blooped a double down the right field line to bring Bellinger to the plate.
“I yanked a heater into his hot spot and he doesn’t miss many of those,” said Cecconi.
Cecconi found trouble again in the fifth, but this time he escaped.
Consecutive singles by Austin Wells and Oswald Peraza and a walk by Trent Grisham loaded the bases with no outs. Rice sent a grounder to second baseman Will Wilson, who threw home to start a textbook 4-2-3 double play. Bo Naylor, after making the force at home, made a strong throw to first to get Rice.
Cecconi ended the inning by retiring Bellinger on a fly ball to center. It was his last batter of the night. He allowed two runs on five hits in five innings.
“It wasn’t my best, it wasn’t my worst,” said Cecconi. “But my defense played fantastic behind me today and we were able to get through five.”
New York made it 4-0 with two more runs in the seventh. Jakob Junis, who entered in the sixth, left in seventh with two out and two on after Judge was walked intentionally for the second time in the game.
Lefty Kolby Allard relieved to face Bellinger in a lefty vs. lefty matchup. The decision went to Bellinger, who singled to make it 3-0. Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed with another single to make it 4-0.
The Guardians missed a great chance to get back in the game in the seventh. Fried was gone after throwing 103 pitches in six innings. Mark Leiter Jr. opening the seventh for the Yankees and Jose Ramirez greeted him with a bloop single to right.
David Fry struck out, but Carlos Santana singled to left to extend his hitting streak to 14 games, matching a career high.
Gabriel Arias reached on a fielder’s choice to load the bases. Arias sent a grounder to the hole at shortstop. Anthony Volpe’s throw to third to try and force Ramirez was offline. The Guardians, however, could not take advantage of the opportunity.
Lefty Tim Hill relieved. He struck out Naylor and retired Jhonkensy Noel on a fly ball to right.
“It was very frustrating … we at least want to get one run there,” said Vogt, when asked about the seventh inning. “We got a little bit of break on the throw to third, but Hill is one of the best lefty relievers in the game.”
The Guardians put together a two-out threat against Fried in the first. Ramirez beat out an infield single to third. He took second when Rice couldn’t handle Fried’s pickoff throw to first.
Ramirez stole third from there as Fry walked. The Guardians tried a double steal, with Fry stealing second, but catcher Wells held the ball to keep Ramirez from coming home.
The threat ended when Fried retired Santana on a pop up to first.
Ramirez’s single extended his on-base streak to 31 games, one shy of his career high. In the first 30 games, Ramirez hit .390 (46 for 118).
In the second, Guardians center fielder Angel Martinez made the play of the game, robbing Peraza of extra bases with a sprawling catch against the fence in left center. Bellinger followed by challenging the fence in right to steal extra bases from Fry.
It was just the second time Fried has faced the Guardians. He’s 2-0 against them, allowing one run in 12 1/3 innings.
“He’s got a lot of pitches with different movements and velo,” said Naylor. “He’s got a push pull going with the big curveball he used later in the game.”
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Houston visits Progressive Field for a three-game series starting Friday night. LHP Logan Allen (3-3, 4.22) will start for the Guardians, while LHP Colton Gordon (0-1, 5.95) starts for the Astros. Game time is 7:10 p.m. with CLEGuardians.TV, WKYC Channel 3, WTAM 1100, WMMS 100.7 FM, WARF and the Guardians radio network carry the game.