'Max got Fried by the Jays' - Yankees fans fume as $218,000,000 ace melts down in disastrous playoff outing

The New York Yankees sent their ace Max Fried to the mound for Sunday's ALDS Game 2 against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Fried, who has been the Yankees' best starter this season, was in for a ride awakening.

Fried allowed a triple when Daulton Varsho reached third base after an error from Aaron Judge in the second inning. The Yankees ace then surrendered a two-run home run to Ernie Clement.

The former Atlanta Braves pitcher, who signed a $218,000,000 deal with the Bronx Bombers in the offseason, conceded three runs in the third inning before being pulled in the fourth.

Fans reacted to Fried's disastrous outing that led to a 13-7 loss.

"More like Max Got Fried by the Jays.

"He's the Aaron Judge of playoff pitchers."

"8 year contract gonna age like absolute milk."

"Not an ace never has been an ace never will be an ace."

"That's how he's always been. hot and cold in the playoffs. only won the WS because he was juuust barely good enough in Game 6."

Max Fried conceded seven earned runs on eight hits before being taken off the mound in one of his worst starts of the season. Will Warren, who replaced him, conceded a grand slam to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the fourth inning.

Max Fried laments disastrous Game 2 start as Blue Jays batter Yankees to take 2-0 lead

While Max Fried underwhelmed from the mound, the Yankees starter didn't get any support from his hitters as his opposite number, Trey Yesavage, pitched 5.1 scoreless innings to keep the visitors at bay.

“I didn’t get it done,” Fried said. “It’s frustrating, especially coming out in a game like this. I needed to have a good one. They obviously had a really good approach. They were on a lot of my pitches, and credit to them.

"I felt like I was mixing a lot of different fastballs, and when I threw the offspeed, they seemed to be on it, too. I pride myself in being able to change speeds and keep guys off balance, and they weren’t off balance.”

The Yankees are on the brink of elimination with their World Series dream hanging by a thread heading into Game 3 of the series in New York.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash