Max Fried was originally scheduled to start for the New York Yankees in their first game after the All-Star break. Friday’s game also would have marked the left-hander’s return to Atlanta after pitching for the Braves during his first eight major-league seasons.
Unfortunately, a blister issue prevented what could have been a fun baseball moment, sidelining Fried (11-3, 2.43 ERA) through the weekend. While Braves fans might have felt deprived from welcoming back one of their former players, the Yankees almost certainly felt deprived of a quality pitching performance in a 7-3 defeat.
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In place of Fried, the Yankees originally wanted to start Cam Schlittler but he was scratched due to upper arm soreness. Schlitter (5.06 ERA) underwent an MRI which showed no serious injury, according to manager Aaron Boone.
So the Yankees had to go with their third choice to face the Braves on Friday, giving a bullpen start to reliever Ian Hamilton. That didn’t go well. Atlanta led off with a Jurickson Profar single, followed by consecutive doubles from Matt Olson and Ronald Acuña Jr. for a quick 2-0 lead. The Braves added another run on a sacrifice fly by Ozzie Albies.
Rico Garcia took over for Hamilton after that first inning and served up a three-run homer by Albies, spinning a changeup right in the middle of the strike zone.
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Pitching wasn’t the only problem for the Yankees on Friday. Poor baserunning also hurt them, yet that resulted in one of the best throws of the year from Acuña.
In the third inning, rookie Jorbit Vivas drew a walk and advanced to second on another walk by Trent Grisham. Cody Bellinger then hit a deep fly ball into the right-field corner which was caught over the shoulder by Acuña in front of the warning track. Vivas tagged up and ran to third. But Acuña — throwing flat-footed, with no running start — launched a rocket that Nacho Alvarez Jr. caught on the fly and tagged out Vivas.
Vivas didn’t help matters by not sliding, running into third standing up. That contributed to the highlight play of the MLB second half thus far. He stayed in the game until the seventh inning, when Giancarlo Stanton pinch-hit for him and Oswald Peraza took over in the field.
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“Can’t happen,” Boone said of Vivas’ baserunning after the game.
Acuña finished 2-for-3, hitting his first triple of the season. Drake Baldwin batted 2-for-4, while Albies had four RBI for the night. Spencer Strider provided the start that the Yankees would’ve loved to see, pitching six scoreless innings and allowing three hits for the Braves (43-53).
For the Yankees, Hamilton and Garcia each gave up three runs with Scott Effross allowing one more. JT Brubaker finished the game with three scoreless innings to give the bullpen a breather.
Fried told reporters that he’s “optimistic” about pitching in the Yankees’ next series at the Toronto Blue Jays. Schlittler is expected to be available for that three-game set, as well. Until then, Will Warren and Marcus Stroman are scheduled to start the Yankees’ remaining two games in Atlanta.
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“We’re in a little bit of a tough spot,” Boone said, via MLB.com. With the defeat, the Yankees (53-44) fell to three games behind the Blue Jays for first place in the AL East.
Following the game, the Yankees reportedly planned to designate Garcia for assignment and call up Allan Winans to give them another arm to pitch this weekend. In two appearances earlier this season, Winans compiled an 8.53 ERA.
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