Max Fried endured his worst stretch of the season and experienced two shaky outings in Toronto in July as the New York Yankees tumbled out of first place in the American League East.
The left-hander appears to be reverting to his stellar form from earlier this season and will be on the mound Sunday afternoon when the Yankees host the Blue Jays and attempt to inch closer in the division.
The Yankees (79-63) trail the season series 8-4 and enter Sunday three games behind the Blue Jays (82-60) for the division lead. After Toronto dominated in a 7-1 victory Friday, the Yankees held the Blue Jays to five hits in a 3-1 victory Saturday.
Austin Wells hit two sacrifice flies, Jasson Dominguez had an RBI single and Cody Bellinger made a big throw from right field to get Bo Bichette at the plate to end the sixth inning and protect a one-run lead.
“Every game’s important,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Win or lose today, it’s process it and it’s on to the next one and tomorrow’s a huge one into an off-day. We know what’s at stake. We know how important these games are.”
Fried went 3-3 with a 6.80 ERA in eight starts from July 1-Aug. 16, a stretch that included him experiencing a blister on July 12 against the Chicago Cubs. That stretch coincided with the Yankees going from holding the lead to a 6 1/2-game deficit in the division. Since then, however, Fried is 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA, 18 strikeouts and eight walks in 20 innings over his last three starts.
Fried last pitched in New York’s 7-1 win at Houston on Tuesday when he allowed one run on four hits and got a season-high 15 ground balls. It was the 13th time he allowed one run or fewer, and the Yankees are 11-2 in those starts in his first season in New York.
“Just mixing my pitches,” Fried said Tuesday. “Just pitching. Not trying to get the punch-out, just focusing on trying to get ground balls, changing speeds, keeping hitters off-balance. It’s what I do best.”
Two of Fried’s starts during his rough stretch occurred in Toronto when he allowed a combined eight earned runs in 11 1/3 innings on July 1 and July 23. The left-hander is 3-1 with a 2.48 ERA in 36 1/3 innings over six career starts against the Blue Jays.
Toronto saw a three-game winning streak stopped and mustered five hits on Saturday. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had two of those hits and is hitting .520 (13-for-25) over his past six games.
“I think (Friday), we generated a little bit more traffic,” Toronto manager John Schneider said on Saturday. “Today the opportunities were a little bit less and didn’t get the big hit.”
Toronto also may be dealing with some minor injury concerns.
Bichette, who has reached base in 20 straight games, tweaked his left shin on the play at the plate but stayed in after X-rays were negative during a lengthy rain delay. Alejandro Kirk batted as a pinch hitter in the ninth and struck out.
Max Scherzer (5-2, 4.11) will pitch after exiting his Aug. 31 start against the Milwaukee Brewers with back spasms after the fourth inning. Scherzer originally was slated to pitch Saturday, but the Blue Jays switched him and Chris Bassistt to give the right-hander another day to recover.
Scherzer allowed four runs on nine hits in Toronto’s 8-4 win last Sunday and is 3-0 with a 3.91 ERA over his past four starts.
Scherzer registered a pair of no-decisions against the Yankees in Toronto earlier this season. He allowed two runs on three hits in five innings in Toronto’s 5-4 victory on June 30 and allowed four runs on five hits in five innings during a 5-4 loss on July 22.
–Field Level Media
