Bronx-NY — Max Fried turned in another brilliant performance on Friday night, teaming up with two relievers to shut down the Tampa Bay Rays in a 3-0 Yankees victory at Yankee Stadium. The left-hander became the first pitcher in the majors to reach six wins this season.
Aaron Judge continued his torrid pace at the plate, ripping a double and a triple in the sixth inning. He scored on Paul Goldschmidt’s three-run homer, a blast that broke a scoreless tie and gave the Yankees all the offense they would need. Judge lifted his MLB-best batting average to .430 and extended his on-base streak to 28 games.
Fried (6-0) flirted with history again. Just under two weeks after nearly no-hitting Tampa Bay, the Rays were finally able to break through with a clean single by José Caballero in the fifth inning. That was the lone hit Fried allowed in five stellar innings. He struck out six, walked two, and induced 10 groundouts while lowering his AL-leading ERA to 1.01. It marked his third scoreless start of the season.
The Yankees have now won all seven games Fried has started this year. Notably, the ace has posted a spotless 0.00 ERA in four starts following Yankees losses.
Goldschmidt launched his third home run of the season in the fifth off left-hander Mason Montgomery, who had just entered in relief of starter Ryan Pepiot (2-4). The homer was set up by Judge’s double and a walk, giving New York all three of its runs.
Reliever Devin Williams retired the side on just eight pitches in the eighth, continuing his strong run since being removed from the closer role. Luke Weaver sealed the win with a perfect ninth inning, striking out two to earn his third save of the season.
The Yankees have now shut out the Rays three times in 2025 — all of their team shutouts have come against Tampa Bay.
Tampa Bay’s offensive woes continued, as the club has scored just three total runs during a four-game losing streak. The Rays have now been shut out five times this year.
Goldschmidt is quietly heating up as well. He raised his average to .361, trailing only Judge in the majors, and leads all hitters with a .586 average (17-for-29) against left-handed pitching.
Pepiot was tagged for two runs on five hits in just 4 1/3 innings — his shortest outing of the season.
Key Moment:
Montgomery threw five consecutive sliders to strike out Ben Rice, but switched to a fastball against Goldschmidt — who turned on the pitch and sent it into the right-field seats for a game-changing homer.
Key Stat:
Fried picked off Christopher Morel in the second inning, giving him 32 career pickoffs since 2017 — the most in Major League Baseball over that span.
Next Up:
Tampa Bay will try to snap its skid on Saturday with right-hander Zack Littell (1-5, 5.03 ERA) taking the mound against Yankees righty Clarke Schmidt (0-1, 5.52 ERA).
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