Yankees earn split as Max Fried goes five scoreless vs. Pirates

Max Fried pitched five innings in a stellar return from the injured list and Jasson Dominguez hit a tiebreaking RBI double in the seventh inning on Wednesday night as the New York Yankees recorded a 2-0 victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates in Game 2 of a split doubleheader.

New York won for the seventh time in 10 games after allowing two runs in the 10th inning in a 5-3 Game 1 loss on Wednesday afternoon. The Yankees avoided getting swept at home in a doubleheader for the first time since May 22, 2022, against the Chicago White Sox.

After throwing just 52 pitches in his only rehab start, Fried was not fully stretched in his first major league start since May 13.

Fried struck out seven and walked one in his 57-pitch outing. The left-hander threw seven different pitches, averaged 96 mph with his four-seam fastball and retired the final 12 batters he faced.

Fried allowed a single to Nick Gonzales to start his outing but left fielder Cody Bellinger made a strong throw to second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. to stop him from stretching it into a double. The only other runner Fried allowed was a walk to rookie Esmerlyn Valdez to start the second.

The left-hander wound up with a no-decision because the Yankees did little against Pittsburgh starter Bubba Chandler, who allowed two hits in 6 1/3 innings. Chandler struck out five and walked one before the Yankees pieced together two runs against Brandon Eisert (2-2)

Chandler was lifted after retiring Paul Goldschmidt to start the seventh. Bellinger followed with a walk and raced home on Dominguez's double to the left field corner.

On the next pitch, Anthony Volpe followed with a double to left for a 2-0 lead as Dominguez beat left fielder Bryan Reynolds' throw.

After Fried's outing ended, Angel Chivilli pitched a scoreless sixth and exited after an infield hit by Jared Triolo. Paul Blackburn (3-1) stranded two runners in the seventh and continued his emergence as a high-leverage reliever by tossing two innings.

Will Warren, who was scheduled to start before Tuesday's game was rained out, put two on in the ninth before Tim Hill retired Ryan O'Hearn to secure his fifth career save and first since 2021.

--Field Level Media