FLUSHING, NY — Heading into the 2025 Subway Series regular season finale, a Sunday matinee at Citi Field, the New York Yankees were in dire need of a win.
Going nearly a week since their last victory, which came last Sunday vs. the Athletics, the Yanks had a dreadful six-game losing streak on their hands, included with a four-game sweep by their American League East rival Blue Jays where it allowed Toronto to overtake them for the lead in the AL East division standings and then—to add to an already ignited fire—a pair of letdowns to the Mets Friday (6-5) and Saturday (12-6).
“It’s the nature of the season, you’re going to get it at some point,” said Yankees’ pitching coach Matt Blake of the team’s struggles prior to Sunday’s first pitch.
Aaron Judge and the Yankees hit a cold spell recently, losing six consecutive games heading into Sunday – Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
Nonetheless, with the outside noise getting louder by the hour, Blake, manager Aaron Boone, and the Bronx Bombers could have not drawn it up much better than having left-handed starter Max Fried assigned for Sunday’s Subway Series finale.
The southpaw, who signed a $218 million/eight-year contract with the Yanks this past offseason, proving on a consistent basis why he is worth the money, arrived to the mound in Queens with a record of 10-2 on the year in 19 starts, a 2.13 ERA, 0.939 WHIP, and 106 strikeouts.
Arguably the best current left-hander in the game alongside Detroit Tigers’ Tarik Skubal, both earning All-Star nods for the 2025 ASG in Atlanta at Truist Park—Fried’s former home ballpark, spending his first eight Major League seasons there as an Atlanta Brave.
Max Fried has been lights out this season, his first in pinstripes, pitching to a below 2.20 ERA before Sunday’s outing – Image Credit: Henry Ordosgoitia/Latino Sports
Despite the 31-year-old getting off to a shaky start to Sunday’s New York baseball showdown, surrendering a lead-off single to Mets’ Starling Marte, pitch clock violation during Francisco Lindor’s at-bat seconds later and a wild pitch in Juan Soto’s first plate appearance, Fried was able to lock in soon after, retiring the next seven batters until Marte delivered his second single in the home half of the third.
Provided some comfort on an Austin Wells solo home run, lifting the lead to 1-0, the Yankees tacked on more insurance for Fried with an Anthony Volpe RBI groundout, a RBI from Wells on a fielder’s choice, both in the fourth, and an Aaron Judge two-run homer in the fifth, his 33rd of 2025.
Now up 5-0, on his next time out in the home half of the fifth, the Mets were finally able to connect for some damage, hitting four consecutive singles for one run across. Coupled with Soto and Alonso due up next, Boone had a tough managerial decision to come to terms with—going to the bullpen a tad early or ultimately opting to let Fried work himself out of it.
His decision quickly paid off, letting Fried be, as the 31-year-old struck out Soto, causing friendly heckles and banter from both fan bases in the ballpark, and Alonso to fly-out to right field.
“That was huge,” said Boone of Fried’s ability to escape the fifth inning. “It was a grind for him, they made him work and put some guys on. But he made some pitches when he needed to, especially in big spots in the lineup. That’s who he is even when he is not necessarily at his best, he’s still very difficult to square up consistently.”
Max Fried attempts a pick-off on Starling Marte at first base during Sunday’s Subway Series finale at Citi Field – Image Credit: Henry Ordosgoitia/Latino Sports
Qualifying for the win (11-2), while contributing to the Yankees’ victory, his number one priority, Fried finished with a line of five innings pitched with three earned runs allowed on six hits, one walk and five strikeouts—his 18th outing of the year where he surrendered three runs or less.
“It’s nice to get a win after being on a little bit of a losing streak,” he said following the Yankees’ 6-4 Sunday Subway Series victory. “That’s the way we want to do it, a good team win. It took everyone to be able to get it.”
On being named an AL All-Star in his first season in pinstripes, Fried noted, “It’s an honor. We have a lot of players on this team that I feel like are very deserving. Hopefully over the next week or so, we can add a few more. But it’s special and a really cool experience to go and be able to share that with teammates and family.”
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