BRONX, NY – When Max Fried is on the mound, one swing is all it takes. The Yankee starter remained unhittable while Paul Goldschmidt crushed a three-run blast en route to a 3-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night at Yankee Stadium.
Fried shoved for seven shutout innings, surrendering just one hit and a pair of walks with five strikeouts. The lefty has not allowed an earned run since April 15, and his ERA is down to 1.01 through seven starts — the lowest mark in the American League.
“He’s just so versatile out there, and it continues to show up for us,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
Goldschmidt launched his third homer of the season, and his second in as many games. When asked by YES Network’s Meredith Marakovitz if he thinks his power is coming back, he smirkingly said, “I hope so.”
Aaron Judge, the first player in AL history with 50 hits before May 1, recorded his league-leading 16th multi-hit game of the season. The Yankee captain went 2-for-4 with a triple, double, and a run scored, boosting his batting average to .430 and his OPS to 1.298.
First base is dangerous territory when Fried is on the mound. The lefty skirted a one-out walk in the second inning by picking off Jose Caballero at first, then ringing up Kameron Misner on three pitches.
Just a few feet shy of breaking not only the scoreless tie, but the three-way tie for the most homers in baseball, Judge settled for his second triple of the season in the top of the third off starter Ryan Pepiot. The Yankee captain beamed a 108.5 mph laser that bounced so hard off the center field wall that he advanced to third base with ease.
As Fried continued to dust the Rays’ lineup, New York finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth. Jorbit Vivas, making his MLB debut at second base after Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit the IL with an oblique strain, led off the frame with a four-pitch walk, finishing the night with two. Judge added his second hit of the evening, lacing a double down the left field line to put both runners in scoring position with one away.
The Rays turned to their bullpen, handing the ball off to left-hander Mason Montgomery. After Rice went down looking for the second out, Goldschmidt hammered the hurler’s 0-1 offering over the short porch for a 3-0 lead.
Goldschmidt continued to batter left-handed pitching. With his opposite-field shot off Montgomery, the first baseman is hitting .600 with an unreal 1.724 OPS in 30 at-bats against southpaws.
Looking to build momentum before returning to high-leverage situations, Yankees reliever Devin Williams entered in the eighth inning, where he sent the Rays down in order. He punctuated the spotless frame by blowing a fastball by Danny Jansen for the third out.
“The guy’s great, and that didn’t go away because he had a couple of bad outings in a new environment,” said Boone.
Righty Luke Weaver took over in the top of the ninth, swiftly retiring the side with a pair of strikeouts.
The Yankees (19-13) will resume action against the Rays on Saturday afternoon (1:05 p.m. ET) for the second matchup of the three-game set.
