Fried was terrific again for the Yankees in a 2-0 loss. The Yankees starter is the bona fide ace of this pitching staff. He may be the best pitcher in Major League Baseball. Kansas City had a good starting pitcher in Michael Wacha, who also baffled the Yankees. Wacha was 0-2 with a 4.20 earned run average coming into the game, pedestrian numbers for sure, but that did not matter. He spellbound the Yankees. Behind Max Fried, the Yankees improve to 10-7. The Royals are now 8-10. Do you think the Yankees will sweep this series?
Lineups Royals Win Game 2 in the Bronx
The Royals had Maikel Garcia batting first and playing center field. Bobby Witt Jr. played shortstop and batted second again. Vinnie Pasquantino batted third and was the designated hitter. Salvador Perez played first base and batted fourth. Michael Massey played second base and batted fifth. Hunter Renfroe was the right fielder and batted sixth.
MJ Melendez was the left fielder and batted seventh. Freddy Fermin was the catcher and batted eighth. Cavan Biggio was the third baseman and batted ninth. For the Yankees, Ben Rice led off and was the designated hitter. Aaron Judge batted second and played right field. Clay Bellinger was the center fielder batting third. He moved to left field in the seventh inning.
Paul Goldschmidt was the first baseman batting fourth. Jazz Chisholm Jr. batted fifth and was the second baseman. Anthony Volpe batted sixth and played shortstop. Austin Wells was the center fielder batting seventh. Jasson Dominguez played left field and batted eighth. Trent Grisham replaced him in the seventh inning and played center field. Oswald Peraza was the third baseman and batted ninth.
Scoring Summary: Fried Pitches Well but Loses
In the third inning of the game, MJ Melendez hit a 430-foot solo home run to give the Royals a 1-0 lead. Then Bobby Witt Jr. doubled and scored Maikel Garcia to give the Royals a 2-0 lead. Witt Jr. was 2-4 yesterday; the rest of the team was 0-25. In the sixth inning, the Yankees finally scored a run. Austin Wells walked with the bases loaded, and Aaron Judge scored. That cut the Royals’ lead to 2-1. The Yankees were not done. Jason Dominguez hit a bases-loaded, bases-clearing double, and the Yankees took a 4-2 lead.
Game Notes
It is a big day. Not only is it Tax Day, but it is Jackie Robinson Day. Today commemorates Robinson breaking the color line in major league baseball 78 years ago (opening day 1947). All players will wear Robinson’s number, 42. It is fitting that Max Fried is getting the start today for the Yankees. His great pitching performance was a fitting tribute. Mariano Rivera wore #42 for the Yankees, and it is retired because he is the greatest pitcher in baseball history.
If no color barrier existed in Major League Baseball, Josh Gibson could have been the catcher on the Babe Ruth-led Yankee teams of the 1920s. The Yankees’ bats woke up a bit in yesterday’s game with four home runs. It was 54 degrees Fahrenheit at game time, with a slight chance of rain. To his credit, Max Fried held the Royals to 2 runs.
Conclusion
Max Fried was awesome for the Yankees again, but the Yankees lost this game 2-0. The win was important as the Yankees won the second game of the series against the Kansas City Royals. The Royals were their foe in last year’s division series. It will be important for the Yankees to win at least two of these games. It is a shame they cannot pitch Max Fried every day.
