When Max Fried was drafted by the Braves out of Harvard-Westlake High School in 2012, Max Scherzer was in the midst of his fifth season in Major League Baseball. The following year, Scherzer would reach his first of eight career All-Star Games in his illustrious career. By the time Fried reached his first Midsummer Classic in 2022, Scherzer was entering the journeyman stage of his MLB tenure after carving out a Hall of Fame career with multiple no-hitters, Cy Young Awards, and key playoff moments.
Now, the two Maxes will clash in the final matchup of the season series between the Yankees and Blue Jays.
The Yanks trail the Jays by four games in the division and face their last chance to directly influence the race. They’ve done themselves few favors this year, having dropped 8 of 11 contests against Toronto this season. But a win here would keep them in decent shape ahead of the final three weeks of the regular season, just two games back in the AL East.
Fried is fully out of his funk by now with three consecutive excellent starts, two of which came against presumptive playoff teams in the AL. His last start against the Jays did not go well, as he allowed six runs—four earned—in an 8-4 defeat on July 23rd. But when he faced them at home back in April, he allowed just one run on five hits over six innings. The Yankee offense has not been in their best form this weekend, so a top-flight performance from Fried would go a long way towards an important win.
Scherzer’s age-40 season has been a mixed bag. Across 70 innings he has a 4.11 ERA with 62 strikeouts, and his lifelong home run proclivity has remained—15 long balls allowed. If the Yankees’ power hitters can time up the veteran, it could be a good day in the Bronx. So in theory, the Bombers should have the advantage this afternoon. But we’ve seen them bottle winnable games against division foes in the past; never assume anything.
Aaron Judge returns to right field today—he DH’d in the day game after the night game but he’ll be good to go this afternoon. Giancarlo Stanton draws back in against Scherzer, but the rest of the lineup is the same as yesterday. Note that Paul Goldschmidt is dealing with a bone bruise on his knee and might only be available to come in as an emergency option, which was the case yesterday.
How to Watch:
Location: Yankee Stadium — Bronx, NY
First Pitch: 1:35 p.m. EDT
TV broadcast: YES (NYY) | Sportsnet, TVA Sports (TOR)
Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY) | SN590, SN AP (TOR)
Online stream: Gotham Sports App, MLB.tv (out-of-market only)
For updates, follow us on BlueSky, Twitter, and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.
