Max Fried’s flawless season hit a devastating roadblock Friday night. The New York Yankees southpaw had dominated opposing hitters for months with precision and control. But at Dodger Stadium, everything unraveled in spectacular fashion. Fried endured his most disastrous performance of 2025, allowing six earned runs as the Yankees squandered an early three-run advantage in an 8-5 defeat to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The left-hander brought an unblemished 7-0 record and a microscopic 1.29 ERA into the contest. He hadn’t surrendered more than two earned runs in any of his previous 11 outings. However, Fried struggled through five-plus frames against Los Angeles’ potent offensive attack before departing early in the sixth inning.
“It’s execution,” Fried said postgame. “Leaving balls in the middle of the plate. Not hitting spots. Against a lineup like that, those mistakes are going to cost you.”
Yankees start hot, then fade fast
New York struck immediately out of the gate. Aaron Judge launched the evening’s first salvo with a solo blast to center field in the opening frame, his 19th homer this season. Austin Wells continued the power display in the second inning with a leadoff shot. Trent Grisham demolished a two-run drive in the same frame, while Paul Goldschmidt completed the barrage with his own leadoff blast in the third.
After three complete innings, the Yankees commanded a 5-2 lead. Dodgers starter Tony Gonsolin had been victimized by four home runs across those early frames, with momentum clearly favoring the visiting team.
That offensive explosion would prove fleeting. Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani answered in the bottom half of the first with a home run off Fried.
Sixth inning collapse unravels Fried
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Fried’s evening deteriorated rapidly in the sixth frame. Shohei Ohtani opened the inning by crushing a solo homer — his second long ball of the night — off an errant sinker. Teoscar Hernández and Will Smith followed with consecutive singles. Freddie Freeman drove home a run with a clutch double, trimming New York’s advantage to 5-4.
Manager Aaron Boone removed Fried with two runners in scoring position and zero outs — marking the first mid-inning extraction of his ace all season.
Max Fried had not allowed more than two earned runs in his first 11 starts this season. Fried’s final line tonight:
“I didn’t think he had his good breaking ball tonight,” Boone said. “He battled, but in that sixth, he left some pitches over the plate, and against hitters like that, it gets amplified.”
Jonathan Loáisiga took over but surrendered the game-tying single to Andy Pages. Following a fielder’s choice and intentional walk, Tim Hill walked Michael Conforto with the bases loaded, pushing the Dodgers ahead 6-5 permanently.
Bullpen fails to stop the bleeding
New York’s typically reliable relief corps couldn’t halt Los Angeles’ offensive surge. Hill’s free pass to Conforto — who entered batting merely .059 with runners in scoring position — delivered the crushing blow.
During the seventh inning, Pages struck again with a two-run single off Yerry De Los Santos, extending the Dodgers’ cushion to 8-5. The Yankees offense vanished completely after Goldschmidt’s third-inning homer, managing only one baserunner thereafter.
“The bullpen has been outstanding all year,” Boone said. “Tonight just wasn’t one of those nights.”
Fried takes the loss — and the accountability
Fried, who had previously yielded merely 10 earned runs all season, surrendered six in this single appearance — representing 60% of his seasonal total. He recorded just three strikeouts while watching his ERA balloon from 1.29 to 1.92.
“The guys did a great job tonight putting up early runs,” Fried said. “And for the most part, I just didn’t do my job.”
His candid assessment captured the frustration of witnessing victory transform into defeat. Fried emphasized his intention to channel this setback into future motivation.
“You just have to use it as motivation to go out next time and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said. “I’m a competitor. I want to go out there and win. So the fact that we had a lead and I gave it up a couple of times, it’s not going to sit well with me.”
“He’s going to be fine,” the Yankees captain said. “I wouldn’t say that’s struggling. He’s been the best pitcher in the game all year and he’s going up against a great ballclub that’s going to put up some great at-bats against you all night long. He went out there and battled. You’re going to have games like this, but we’ve got all the confidence in the world in Max.”
Yankees drop opener but remain in strong position
AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
Despite the setback ending their six-game winning streak abruptly, the Yankees are still atop the American League East standings, six games above the Tampa Bay Rays.
Regarding Fried, one catastrophic outing doesn’t invalidate his exceptional campaign. Nevertheless, the performance demonstrated that even elite pitchers experience difficult nights — particularly against lineups featuring MVP-caliber talent and postseason-tested hitters.
“They’ve seen me a lot over the years,” Fried said of the Dodgers. “But it still comes down to execution. I didn’t execute tonight, and they made me pay.”
Two additional games remain in this compelling series, providing the Yankees opportunities to recover and stabilize their rotation. Friday’s defeat will resonate deeply — not solely due to the final tally, but because Max Fried faltered when his team needed him most.
Esteban Quinones is a proud graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. Growing up just blocks away from Yankee Stadium in Upper Manhattan, Esteban developed a deep love for the New York Yankees, a passion that has been a constant throughout his life. Whether it's cheering for the Yankees or crafting strategic communications, Esteban brings dedication and enthusiasm to producing content around all things Yankees.
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