Max Fried loses no-hit bid on official scorer's whim as Yankees beat Rays, 4-0

Gary Phillips, New York Daily News on Apr 20, 2025

Published in Baseball

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TAMPA, Fla. — With the Yankees closing out a four-game series against the Rays within the intimate confines of their own spring training complex, Max Fried nearly sent fans of both teams home with a memory they’d never forget.

The left-hander, just five starts into his Yankees career, took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning of Sunday’s 4-0 win.

However, as he toed the rubber in the eighth, an error from earlier in the day was changed to a hit by the Rays’ official scorer, Bill Mathews.

The play in question came in the sixth inning when the blazing Chandler Simpson hit a soft grounder to Paul Goldschmidt at first. The speed demon looked like he was going to beat Fried to first base with ease, but Goldschmidt booted the ball and was initially charged with an error, thus keeping the no-no intact for the time being.

However, as Fried took the mound with six outs to go, Mathews announced the play had been changed to a single, as it was “very apparent” Simpson would have won the race to the base.

Asked for further explanation, Mathews said, “I made a decision.” Given multiple opportunities to explain a bit more, he remained silent.

Fried, meanwhile, allowed a leadoff single to Jake Mangum to start the eighth. The southpaw exited a few batters later having totaled 7 2/3 innings, two hits, zero earned runs, two walks, one hit-by-pitch, two strikeouts and 102 pitches.

Fried now has a 1.42 ERA.

Even before the scoring conundrum, the first-year Yankee’s no-hit bid would not have lasted as long as it did if not for some stellar defensive plays.

While the Yankees made two errors in the game, a pickoff play between Fried and Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second base erased a two-base mistake from Oswaldo Cabrera in the fourth.

Following a walk in the fifth, Trent Grisham kept Fried’s bid alive when he made a tumbling catch against the wind in right-center field. Grisham then fired to second for an inning-ending double play as the Rays’ series-long woes on the bases continued.

The seventh inning, meanwhile, saw Chisholm make a lunging, over-the-shoulder catch on a blooping popup.

While Fried dazzled, the Yankees put a few runs on the board via the long ball.

Grisham, leading off for the first time as a Yankee, started the game with a solo shot, while Cody Bellinger added one of his own in the sixth inning. Austin Wells then left the yard in solo fashion in the ninth.

The Yankees also scored a run in the third when Bellinger beat out a potential double-play ball.

It looked as if Aaron Judge had clobbered a towering bases-empty blast of his own in the eighth, as replay seemed to show Judge launching a clearly fair ball way beyond Steinbrenner Field’s left-field seats. However, the ball was ruled foul, ultimately leading to a strikeout for Judge and an ejection for manager Aaron Boone.

While Judge was robbed of his eighth homer, the Yankees still wrapped up an unusual series on a positive note thanks to Fried.

Now the Bombers will head to Cleveland, where a three-game series against the Guardians awaits.