New York Yankees pitcher Max Fried acknowledged he did not have his "best stuff" during his five-inning performance against the Seattle Mariners on Thursday, but his outing was sufficient to keep the Yankees within striking distance. Despite allowing only one run, the Yankees' offense was unable to generate any runs, resulting in a 1-0 defeat.
Fried's lone mistake was a two-strike cutter that hung in the middle of the zone to Weston Wilson, who hit a home run for the game's only score. "Definitely wish I had that two-strike back to Wilson," Fried stated after the game. "But all in all, grinded. Definitely a hard-fought game today."
The right-hander threw 88 pitches and primarily pitched to contact, striking out only two Mariners. He relied heavily on his catcher, Ali Sánchez, and the Yankees' infield defense, which made several key plays, including a double play initiated by George Lombard Jr.
Manager Aaron Boone commented on Fried's pitch count, suggesting that longer at-bats by the Mariners may have prevented him from pitching deeper into the game. "I think probably a couple of those innings, he had a chance to have a quick inning and they maybe worked their way on or worked foul balls and things like that, longer counts," Boone said. "So it made for a longer day out there for him in some put-away situations."
Despite his personal assessment, Fried has been consistent, allowing one run or fewer in his last three starts and four of his last five. "Sign me up for one run, getting us into the middle of the game," Boone added. "We just weren’t able to do much offensively. But I thought he threw the ball pretty well overall."