Max Fried endured his worst section of the season and experienced two trembling outings in Toronto in July while the New York Yankees fell from first place in the American League East.
The left-hander seems to come back to his stellar form earlier this season and will be on the mound Sunday afternoon when the Yankees welcome the Blue Jays and will try to get closer to the division.
The Yankees (79-63) follow the series of season 8-4 and enter three games on Sunday behind Blue Jays (82-60) for the head of the division. After Toronto dominated in a 7-1 victory on Friday, the Yankees kept the Blue Jays five strokes in a 3-1 victory on Saturday.
Austin Wells struck two sacrifice flies, Jasson Dominguez had a simple RBI and Cody Bellinger made a big launch from the right field to get Bo Bichette to the marble to finish the sixth round and protect an advance from a race.
“Each match is important,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone. “Win or lose today, this is the process and it is on the next one and tomorrow is huge in a day of rest. We know what is at stake. We know how important these games are.”
Fried went 3-3 with an MPM of 6.80 in eight departures from July 1 to August. 16, a section which included it to experience a bulb on July 12 against the Chicago Cubs. This stretch coincided with the Yankees going from the head of a deficit of 6 1/2 in the division. Since then, however, Fried has been 2-0 with an MPM of 0.90, 18 sticks to the stick and eight walks in 20 rounds in its last three departures.
Fried for the last time in New York’s 7-1 victory in Houston on Tuesday when he gave a point on four strokes and obtained a top of 15 bullets on the ground. It was the 13th time that he has given a race or less, and the Yankees are 11-2 in these departures during his first season in New York.
“Just mix my locations,” said Fried on Tuesday. “I twist. Do not try to get the punch-out, simply focusing on the test to get balls on the ground, changing speeds, keeping the strikers out of balance. This is the best.”
Two of the departures of Fried during his rough stretching took place in Toronto when he granted eight points deserved in 11 1/3 heats on July 1 and July 23. The left-hander is 3-1 with an MPM of 2.48 in 36 1/3 innings on six career starts against the Blue Jays.
Toronto saw a sequence of three consecutive victories stopped and gathered five strokes of sure on Saturday. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. succeeded two of these sure strokes and hits 0.520 (13 for 25) in his last six games.
“I think (Friday), we generated a little more traffic,” Toronto manager John Schneider said on Saturday. “Today, the opportunities were a little less and did not have the big blow.”
Toronto could also deal with minor injury problems.
Bichette, who reached the base in 20 consecutive games, refined her left tibia on the marble game but remained after the X -rays were negative for a long laggside. Alejandro Kirk beat as a pinch thickness in the ninth and withdrew.
Max Scherzer (5-2, 4.11) launched after leaving his departure from August 31 against the Brewers of Milwaukee with rear spasms after the fourth round. Scherzer was originally to play on Saturday, but the Blue Jays changed it and Chris Bassistt to give right another day to recover.
Scherzer granted four points over nine stories in the 8-4 victory in Toronto last Sunday and 3-0 with an MPM of 3.91 in his last four departures.
Scherzer recorded a pair of non-debisis against Yankees in Toronto earlier this season. He granted two points over three strokes in five rounds in the 5-4 victory in Toronto on June 30 and granted four points over five strokes in five rounds in a defeat of 5-4 on July 22.
– field level media
