Fried's career-high-tying 13 K's help Yanks close AL East gap

BALTIMORE -- Max Fried has been battle-tested on the biggest stage this sport has to offer, and as the veteran left-hander puts the finishing touches on his first regular season with the Yankees, his continued success provides one striking reason to believe in the potential of a deep October run.

Fried had all of his pitches working as he fired seven scoreless innings and matched his career high with 13 strikeouts in a 7-0 victory over the Orioles on Thursday evening at Camden Yards. He has now set career highs in wins (18), innings (188 1/3) and strikeouts (182) this season.

“I’m feeling really good physically,” Fried said. “I feel like I did toward the beginning of the year; just changing speeds, trying to get deep into games and trying to win games. It was really big from the offense, coming out early and scoring some runs.”

The stellar three-hit outing, coming in Fried's 31st start (also a career high), helped the Yankees (86-67) take advantage of an opportunity to gain ground in the American League East race. Shrugging off travel fatigue following an early morning arrival from Minneapolis, the Yanks closed within three games of the Blue Jays (89-64), who lost earlier in the day to the Rays. New York's edge over Houston (84-69) and Seattle (84-69) remained at two games for the top AL Wild Card spot.

“He’s an ace,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Fried. “He pitches like that. He’s had a phenomenal year to this point. On top of that, just 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.”

Amed Rosario provided all the support Fried would need, continuing to rake against left-handed pitching by connecting for a two-run single in the first inning off Baltimore starter Cade Povich. Fried did the rest, improving to 5-0 with 1.60 ERA across his past six starts.

“We know how important pitching is in October,” said Paul Goldschmidt, who had two hits, two runs and an RBI. “He’s got so many pitches. He’s a smart pitcher out there. He mixes it up, doesn’t fall into patterns and just executes. That’s what he was doing tonight.”

After his most recent start against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, Fried pointed to the calendar, noting that he intended to empty the tank with only a few regular-season starts remaining.

The Orioles were on the wrong end. By the sixth inning, Fried had 11 strikeouts, matching a season high established on April 9 at Detroit.

“Just sticking to my strengths; I’ve got a lot of pitches, I mix speeds a lot and I’m leaning into that,” Fried said. “I trust in the defense behind me. They’re making some really nice plays and giving me the confidence that if I throw the ball over the plate, [the out is] going to get made.”

O’s interim manager Tony Mansolino observed that Fried seemed to alter his approach against right-handed hitters, opting to hammer low and outside with his sinker instead of pitching inside.

“He painted,” Mansolino said. “I looked at a few of the pitches on the iPad, just trying to figure out what he was doing so differently. That catcher’s setting up on the black, and he’s hitting the glove most of the night. That is an ace right there, without a doubt.”

A single-game career high for strikeouts was within reach as Fried returned to the mound for the seventh, though he said he didn’t know.

“I don’t know my stats while I’m out there,” Fried said. “As long as we have more runs than the other team, I’m pretty happy.”

Fried opened the seventh by getting Jeremiah Jackson to wave at an 88.5 mph changeup for his 12th strikeout, then whiffed Coby Mayo on an 85.1 mph slider for No. 13. That matched his previous highest single-game total from a June 4, 2024, start for the Braves against the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

“I love watching him pitch,” Boone said. “He’s such a good athlete the way he fields his position, controls the running game. You see his athleticism on the mound with how fluid he is, how he can add and subtract. It’s a lot of fun when he’s in a rhythm like that.”

Austin Wells added a bloop RBI single in the fifth off Povich, who allowed five hits, walked four and struck out five.

The Yankees pulled away with four runs in the seventh inning. Goldschmidt clipped a run-scoring single, Aaron Judge lifted a sacrifice fly and Giancarlo Stanton banged a two-run double.

“We’re playing some pretty good baseball right now,” Fried said. “That’s when you want to really hit your stride, going into the last week or so. We’re excited. We want to go out there and finish strong, and go into the playoffs strong.”