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Thanks to mostly outstanding pitching, the Yankees took two of three from the Pirates with Gerrit Cole and Max Fried, together finally, were both excellent during Wednesday’s doubleheader split. But this offense remains utterly and inarguably hideous. Lets get to it.
For the first time since Max Fried joined the Yankees as a free agent in 2025, he and Gerrit Cole are both healthy and in the rotation together at the same time. It was a long time coming, and it was certainly worth the wait.
“It’s nice that it’s finally come to fruition for sure,” Cole told reporters. “A bit too long for both our tastes.”
Cole missed all of Fried’s first season with the Yankees while recovering from Tommy John surgery, and then right around the time Cole was set to return in May, Fried hit the injured list with an elbow bruise.
So Wednesday was a big day because they started both ends of the doubleheader against the Pirates, neither factoring in the decisions as the Yankees split, but both pitched very well as they combined for 12 innings allowing just three earned runs on five hits and one walk with 18 strikeouts.
“It’s encouraging, what they look like,” Aaron Boone said. “Gerrit, now, a few in a row that have been, I feel like excellent. More of the same today. Max looking like peak Max when he was dominating last year and in some early games this year. He looked great, obviously … it’s as good as he’s looked all year. Hoping he could get you through three innings, maybe 10 outs, but to be that efficient to go five innings of shutout for us, he was really sharp from the jump.”
Cole threw seven strong innings striking out a season-high 11 in the opener, marred only by the two home runs he allowed which cost him three runs. And then Fried was even more impressive because after not pitching since May 13, and having made just one Triple-A rehab start, he produced five outstanding and scoreless innings allowing one walk and one hit with seven strikeouts.
Gerrit Cole and Max Fried, together at last, and they both pitched very well Wednesday as the Yankees split a doubleheader with the Pirates which clinched a series win.
Pitching like that, combined with some outstanding work from the bullpen - the exception of Fernando Cruz in the 10th inning of the opener - should have made for an easy day/night for the Yankees. Instead, because their offense is simply
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