There is nothing like watching Max Fried pitch to alleviate some of the angst and pressure associated with managing the New York Yankees in the middle of a pennant race.
Manager Aaron Boone had a blast on Thursday watching Fried mow down the Baltimore Orioles in a 7-0 rout. The left-hander struck out 13 and allowed only three singles over seven sparkling innings.
“Fun,” Boone said afterward. “I just love watching him pitch. He’s such a good athlete, and you see the athleticism on the mound — the different ways he can get you out.”
Photo: AFP
The swing-and-a-miss was the fashion in which Fried (18-5) got most of his outs against the last-placed Orioles. Mixing his fastball with a nasty changeups and a drop-down curveball, the lefty struck out everyone in the starting lineup at least once except for Gunnar Henderson.
“I was able both sides of the plate and had a real good feel for my changeup,” Fried said. “I’m feeling really good physically.”
The 13 strikeouts tied a career high and the 18 wins marked a career best for the former Atlanta standout, who signed an eight-year, US$218 million contract with New York as a free agent in December last year.
So far, Fried is looking like a very good investment.
“I feel like he’s in a real good spot. He’s throwing the ball well,” Boone said. “He’s an ace, and he pitches like that. He’s had a phenomenal year to this point.”
And not just on the mound, either.
“The type of person and teammate he is, he’s everything you’d want in bringing someone in to be a featured guy in your rotation,” Boone said.
The Orioles had no chance.
Fried retired 12 straight after allowing a single in the second inning to Coby Mayo, and struck out Tyler O’Neill with two runners on base and two outs in the sixth inning.
“It was so tough. He just hammered down and away with that sinker,” Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “And he painted. That catcher’s setting up on the black and he’s hitting the glove most of the night. The changeup was really good. That is an ace right there without a doubt.”
The surging Yankees have won 17 of 24 to get within three games of the first-placed Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East.
Come playoff time, Boone knows who he can turn to in a big game.
“He’s had a number of pretty impressive games this year,” Boone said. “This was really good, really efficient.”
Elsewhere on Thursday, it was:
‧ Dodgers 2, Giants 1
‧ Mets 6, Padres 1
‧ Rays 4, Blue Jays 0
‧ Red Sox 3, Athletics 5
‧ Reds 1, Cubs 0
‧ Rockies 7, Marlins 9
‧ Royals 0, Mariners 2
‧ Tigers 1, Guardians 3
Wilyer Abreu watched the ball leave the park and tossed his bat high in the air. His Venezuela teammates streamed out of the dugout in celebration. The comeback was on and the win over the reigning World Baseball Classic (WBC) champion Japan was within reach. Japan, their 11-game WBC winning streak on the line, held a 5-4 lead in the sixth inning of Saturday’s thrilling quarter-final matchup when Abreu put his team ahead with the biggest swing of the game: a three-run shot off Hiromi Itoh that sent the loanDepot Park crowd into a passionate roar and helped seize Venezuela’s 8-5
A BREATHLESS BATTLE: France clinched the championship in a vicious back-and-forth match with England, denying Ireland the title by just a few points France won back-to-back Six Nations titles after beating England 48-46 on a last-second penalty-kick by Thomas Ramos in a thriller for the ages on Saturday. England scored their seventh try in the 77th minute and converted for 46-45. If the score held for a few more minutes, Ireland would have been crowned the champion. But France pressed yet again with 14 men, lost possession, regained it, and earned two simultaneous penalties after the fulltime siren. Captain Antoine Dupont debated with referee Nika Amashukeli where the penalty spots were. Ramos, who did not miss a goal-kick all night, finally lined up his seventh
Home runs are greeted with a celebratory shot of espresso and the donning of an Armani jacket. Victories are marked with bottles of red wine while the soaring voice of opera singer Andrea Bocelli echoes through the locker room. Welcome to baseball, Italian-style. Written off as 80-1 underdogs before the World Baseball Classic started, Italy’s fairytale tournament has carried them all the way to today’s (Taipei time) semi-finals in Miami against Venezuela. On Saturday, Italy — who scored a stunning upset of a star-studded US lineup during the pool phase — kept their unbeaten campaign alive with a nail-biting 8-6
Kimi Antonelli became Formula 1’s second-youngest race winner with a composed drive to victory for Mercedes in an eventful Chinese Grand Prix yesterday. The 19-year-old Italian was the youngest pole position starter and briefly lost the lead to Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari at the start, but retook it soon after and was in control after that. “We did it! We did it!” Antonelli shouted to his team on the radio amid laughs and whoops. It was another 1-2 finish for Mercedes to start the season as Antonelli’s teammate George Russell came through a battle with both Ferraris to finish second. Lewis Hamilton was
RSS