Max Fried’s All-Star first half came to an unfortunate end Saturday, when the left-hander was removed from his final start before the break after three innings with a blister on his left index finger.
It came after the lefty suffered through his shortest start since signing with the Yankees in the offseason, as Fried allowed four runs (three earned) in just three innings.
The Yankees may catch a break with the break coming up, but Fried has spent time on the IL due to blisters on his pitching hand in four different seasons before this one, the most recent being in 2023.
On Saturday, Fried struggled with his command throughout the start, walking three batters and needing 73 pitches to retire just nine batters.
This was also a third straight start in which Fried looked human after getting off to a phenomenal start in The Bronx.
He’s now allowed 10 earned runs in 14 innings in those three outings and his ERA has jumped from 1.89 to 2.43 in five starts.
Nico Hoerner led off the game against Fried with a booming triple to left-center that was eventually chased down by Trent Grisham.
Kyle Tucker’s slow roller to first knocked in Hoerner for the game’s first run in an opening inning that took Fried 28 pitches to get through.
The lefty found himself in trouble again in the third with a leadoff single by Tucker and a double down the left line from Seiya Suzuki.
With runners on second and third, Carson Kelly reached on an infield single that was deflected by Oswald Peraza at third to score Tucker and make it 2-0.
After a popout by Pete Crow-Armstrong, Fried got a grounder to third from Dansby Swanson but the Yankees weren’t able to complete the double play and Suzuki scored for a 3-0 lead.
Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s throw to first on the play sailed over Paul Goldschmidt at first and the error allowed Swanson to get to second, which proved costly when Ian Happ singled to center to put the Yankees in a 4-0 hole.
Fried managed to finish the inning before being replaced by Ian Hamilton to start the fourth.
