The New York Yankees sent their ace Max Fried to the mound for Sunday’s ALDS Game 2 against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Fried, who has been the Yankees’ best starter this season, was in for a rude awakening.
Fried allowed a triple when Daulton Varsho reached third base following an error by Aaron Judge in the second inning. The Yankees’ ace then surrendered a two-run home run to Ernie Clement. The former Atlanta Braves pitcher, who signed a $218 million deal with the Bronx Bombers in the offseason, conceded three runs in the third inning before being pulled in the fourth.
Max Fried ended up conceding seven earned runs on eight hits in one of his worst starts of the season. Will Warren, who replaced him, also struggled, giving up a grand slam to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the fourth inning.
Fans reacted sharply to Fried’s disastrous outing, which contributed to the Yankees’ 13-7 loss. Here are some of the reactions from social media:
– “More like Max Got Fried by the Jays.” — @smsportsguy
– “He’s the Aaron Judge of playoff pitchers.” — @hawkkjob
– “8 year contract gonna age like absolute milk.” — @j_eaton14
– “Not an ace never has been an ace never will be an ace.” — @NimmOBP
– “That’s how he’s always been. Hot and cold in the playoffs. Only won the WS because he was juuust barely good enough in Game 6.” — @roos_sloss
While Max Fried underwhelmed from the mound, the Yankees lineup also failed to provide any support. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays’ starter, Trey Yesavage, pitched 5.1 scoreless innings, keeping the Yankees’ offense at bay.
“I didn’t get it done,” Fried admitted postgame. “It’s frustrating, especially coming out in a game like this. I needed to have a good one. They obviously had a really good approach. They were on a lot of my pitches, and credit to them.”
He continued, “I felt like I was mixing a lot of different fastballs, and when I threw the offspeed, they seemed to be on it, too. I pride myself in being able to change speeds and keep guys off balance, and they weren’t off balance.”
With the team now down 2-0 in the series, the Yankees are on the brink of elimination, their World Series dream hanging by a thread heading into Game 3 back in New York.
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**About the author**
_Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His journey in sportswriting began in 2012 when Sir Alex Ferguson bid farewell to football. Although he started professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, his broad interest in all sports led him to America’s favorite pastime._
_Chaitanya’s favorite current player is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., while his all-time favorite is Pedro Martinez for his self-belief and consistency. He also highlights Jose Bautista’s iconic bat flip in 2015 as a favorite baseball moment._
_He specializes in analyzing the technical aspects of the game and player patterns, and he enjoys exploring players’ self-assessments after games for insights into their mindset._
_When not cheering on his favorites across sports, Chaitanya enjoys immersing himself in war and historical documentaries._
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