The Tampa Bay Rays are the newly crowned American League East champions, clinching a first-round bye as they await the winner of the Wild Card Series. Now locked into the Wild Card Round, the New York Yankees are shifting their focus to the postseason, where starting pitcher Max Fried addressed the sting of watching a division rival celebrate on Bronx turf.
“You don’t want anyone to be celebrating at your stadium,” Fried told the YES Network following the game. “Especially this morning, with the way Carlos came out, we wanted to put some pressure on and win some games. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to follow up what he did this afternoon.”
Fried was blunt about his own performance during the nightcap of Tuesday’s doubleheader. Though Carlos Rodon turned in a gem during his final regular-season start, the Yankees couldn’t complete the sweep, leaving the door open for Tampa Bay to seal the division title.
Looking ahead to the road to October, manager Aaron Boone outlined the team’s strategy for the remaining five games of the regular season. However, Boone also delivered a concerning injury update regarding Aaron Judge, clouding the captain’s availability for the upcoming Wild Card Series.
Max Fried #54 of the New York Yankees throws a live bullpen session.
Fried struggles against Rays’ offense
Tuesday presented a tale of two games for New York’s rotation. Game 1 saw Rodon deliver a dominant performance on the mound to reach the 100-strikeout mark for the season, but Fried was unable to replicate that command in the second matchup.
Fried allowed four earned runs on six hits over 6.2 innings as Tampa Bay pulled away for a 6-1 victory. The sub-par outing highlighted pressing questions about the rotation’s consistency, especially with no margin for error in a short Wild Card Series where a single loss can alter the entire series.
Fried maintains confidence in Yankees’ rotation
Despite his rough outing, Fried expressed full confidence in his fellow rotation members as the postseason approaches. “We’ve got great arms. We’ve got a guy who’s going to win the Cy Young. Anytime you have that guy in your rotation, it’s obviously a good thing. We’ve got a lot of guys throwing the ball really well right now,” Fried remarked.
Key takeaways
- The Tampa Bay Rays clinched the American League East division title and celebrated at Yankee Stadium.
- Max Fried allowed four earned runs over 6.2 innings in a 6-1 defeat, and sounded off on Rays’ celebration.
- The starting pitcher expressed full confidence in New York’s rotation ahead of the postseason.
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