SEATTLE — You can call it a dominant stretch. You can call it a hot start. Or you can just call it historic, because the numbers say it is.
Max Fried threw seven scoreless innings Tuesday night in the New York Yankees’ 5-0 win over the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park, and in doing so planted himself alongside some of the most celebrated names in franchise history. More than that, the performance helped the Yankees tie one of the most obscure and remarkable records in Major League Baseball history.
A franchise mark Fried now owns alone
After his 5-0 victory at Seattle, Fried has now thrown 13 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings across his first two starts of the 2026 season. That makes him the first Yankees left-hander to throw at least six scoreless innings in each of his first two outings of a season since Mel Stottlemyre accomplished the feat back in 1967.
The company Fried keeps on the Yankees’ all-time list for this stat includes Bob Turley in 1958. Now Fried stands alongside them.
It is also the continuation of a personal win streak that reaches into baseball rarity. Fried has now won eight consecutive regular-season decisions, dating to Aug. 27 of last season. That places him eighth on the Yankees’ all-time list for consecutive wins by a left-handed pitcher, alongside Eddie Lopat and CC Sabathia. Guidry did it twice. Whitey Ford holds the franchise record at 11.
Longest win streaks by a Yankees left-handed pitcher (regular season)
| Pitcher | Win streak (regular season) | Year |
| Whitey Ford | 11 | 1961 |
| Ron Guidry | 11 | 1979 |
| Ron Guidry | 10 | 1978 |
| James Paxton | 10 | 2019 |
| Herb Pennock | 9 | 1927-28 |
| Eddie Lopat | 8 | 1951 |
| CC Sabathia | 8 | 2010 |
| Max Fried | 8 (active) | 2026 |
The numbers on the season are clean and alarming for opposing offenses: 13 1/3 innings, five hits, zero runs, three walks, 11 strikeouts, two wins.
The Yankees tied an 83-year-old MLB record
Here is the record that puts Tuesday’s win into its proper historical context. With their third shutout in five games, the Yankees allowed just three runs total through their first five games of the 2026 season. That ties the fewest runs allowed by any team through a season’s first five games in Major League Baseball history, matching the 1943 St. Louis Cardinals.
The Yankees are also the only team since 1900 to allow fewer than five runs and strike out at least 45 batters in their first five games of a season.
Fewest runs allowed through first 5 games in MLB history (since 1900)
| Team | Year | Runs allowed, first 5 games |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 1943 | 3 |
| New York Yankees | 2026 | 3 (tied record) |
Source: Elias Sports Bureau / MLB Stats
Through those five games, the Yankees’ rotation owns a 0.66 ERA, surrendering two runs across 27 1/3 innings.
“We have a lot of really talented guys that are really motivated,” Fried said. “We’ve been waiting for this opportunity to have the season start and go compete. We want to go win and we’re leaving everything out there. We got a lot of really good arms and we’re throwing the ball well right now, so we’re just trying to keep it rolling.”
What made Tuesday’s outing different from the first
Fried was the first to admit his Opening Day start at San Francisco was a grinding experience even if it produced six and a third scoreless innings. He walked two and had moments where control was an issue. The win still came, but Boone had called it “what an ace looks like when he’s grinding.”
Tuesday night was the opposite. Fried did not allow a baserunner until a two-out walk to Julio Rodriguez in the first inning. He then retired nine straight hitters. The Mariners did not register their first hit until Josh Naylor singled with two outs in the fourth inning. After that, Fried retired seven more in a row.
He did face a brief threat in the seventh. Naylor’s infield single and a hit batter put two runners on, but Fried induced a double play to end the inning. He finished at 90 pitches, 60 of which were strikes.
“There weren’t times where I was just fighting to throw strikes,” Fried said. “I felt like I was actually able to locate today, which made things a lot easier.”
Catcher J.C. Escarra, who caught Fried for the second straight start, described the performance simply: “He had all of his pitches going from the get-go. He was hitting all of his spots.”
Boone did not look for more elaborate language. “That was an ace in control of the game,” the manager said. “He was on point from the start. Just in total control of the game and had everything going for him, different ways to get you out. I thought he changed speeds really well, had good life to his fastball, just back and forth.”
Max Fried’s 2026 start-by-start log
| Start | Date | Opponent | IP | H | R | BB | SO | Pitches | Result |
| 1 | Mar 25 | @ San Francisco | 6.1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 88 | W |
| 2 | Mar 31 | @ Seattle | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 90 | W |
| Season total | 13.1 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 178 | 2-0 |
Stanton provides the offense, praises the staff
Giancarlo Stanton went 2-for-4 with two RBIs Tuesday, giving him multiple hits in each of his first five games of the season. He described Fried’s outing with one word: “Dominance.”
“Continued from last year, making it tough on the guys,” Stanton said. “Making them off balance, working in and out.”
Stanton also offered the hitter’s perspective on what a pitching performance like Fried’s means for the lineup. “They’ve made it easier on us, for sure,” he said. “It’s a much easier at-bat when the other team has zero runs.”
Brent Headrick and Tim Hill each threw a scoreless inning after Fried finished, completing the shutout. The Yankees now have three shutouts in five games. Cam Schlittler, who started the other shutout, goes Wednesday in the rubber match of the Seattle series.
Fried improved to 2-0 and is in the second year of his eight-year, $218 million contract. In his first season in New York in 2025, he went 19-5 with a 2.86 ERA, made his fourth All-Star appearance, and finished fourth in AL Cy Young Award voting.
He has not surrendered a run across two 2026 starts. If that sounds like a good start, the record books say it is more than that.
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