SEATTLE (AP) — Max Fried bemoaned his first start of the season, one in which he struggled to throw strikes at times.
The New York Yankees left-hander loaded the zone on Tuesday night, too, but the end results of each outing were the same: no runs on the scoreboard, and a win, the latest one 5-0 against the Seattle Mariners.
“There weren’t times where I was just fighting to throw strikes,” Fried said. “I felt like I was actually able to locate today, which made things a lot easier.”
Fried breezed through seven shutout innings en route to winning his career-high eighth straight regular-season start dating to Aug. 27. He has not given up a run in 13 1/3 innings this season. He tossed 6 1/3 innings of two-hit ball in a win at San Francisco on opening night last Wednesday.
Manager Aaron Boone has been more than pleased with Fried, who is in his second season of an eight-year, $218 million contract.
“He was terrific tonight,” Boone said. “He was on point from the start. Just in total control of the game and had everything going for him, different ways to get you out. I thought he changed speeds really well, like had good life to his fastball, just back and forth.”
Fried did an exemplary job of keeping hitters off balance in 2025, too. In his first season in the Big Apple, Fried went 19-5 with a 2.86 ERA, made his fourth All-Star team and finished fourth in Cy Young award voting.
“He’s dominant,” said designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton, who went 2 for 4 with two RBIs in the win. “Continuing from last year, making it tough on the guys. Making them off balance, working in and out.”
While Fried’s contributions were greatly appreciated in New York last season, they are perhaps even more so in 2026. The Yankees rotation is down a couple of top arms.
Left-hander Carlos Rodón experienced right hamstring tightness on Tuesday while going through his throwing program, which could delay his return from elbow surgery. Former Cy Young award winner Gerrit Cole, who missed all of the 2025 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, remains sidelined.
Even without Rodón and Cole, New York’s rotation has been arguably its greatest strength amid its 4-1 start. The Yankees have only given up three runs in five games and recorded three shutouts as a team, two of which have been started by Fried.
“Everyone’s contributed,” Boone said. “Obviously Max now, going into the seventh or completed the seventh in back-to-back ones. And everyone else from the starting rotation has gone out and held them down.”
Nobody has been more dominant than Fried, though, who has been sublime in pinstripes. He is setting the example for the rest of the staff, a group that has more than held its own during New York’s hot start to the year.
“We’re throwing the ball well right now,” Fried said, “so, we’re just trying to keep it rolling.”
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