NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� While the Yankees still are missing Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole and Max Fried pitched together in New York’s rotation for first time and their numbers add to the .
Displaying $542 million worth of aces, the Yankees sent the pair to the mound in a doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Cole didn’t get a decision in Wednesday’s opening , striking out 11 鈥� his highest total in three years 鈥� while allowing three runs over seven innings. Fried came off the injured list for the night game and pitched five innings of one-hit ball in a .
鈥淚 think you saw a master class today,鈥� fellow Yankees pitcher Will Warren said.
New York manager Aaron Boone had long envisioned Cole (No. 45) and Fried (54) following each other to the mound.
鈥淚t鈥檚 nice that it鈥檚 finally come to fruition,鈥� Cole said. 鈥淎 bit too long for of our both of our tastes.鈥�
Signed to a before the 2020 season, Cole won the and helped the Yankees reach the 2024 World Series. He had , and the 35-year-old right-hander didn’t .
Cole is 3-5 with a 3.92 ERA in 11 starts, striking out 66 and walking 12 in 62 innings. He retired his first 14 batters Wednesday before allowing Nick Gonzales鈥� single and Jacob Gonzalez鈥檚 two-run homer. Nick Gonzales added a solo homer in the seventh.
He pitched his 64th double-digit strikeout game, a Yankees-record 29th.
鈥淗e’s at a really good place and I just think benefiting from now pitching every fifth and sixth day and getting back his competitive sea legs,鈥� Boone said.
Cole did have a hiccup when he was called for a balk in the sixth inning. The pitch clock malfunctioned and went blank, and Cole broke his hands before stepping off the pitching rubber.
鈥淭hey were not aware that the clock went off,鈥� Cole said. 鈥淎nd it is my fault. I broke and stepped off at the same time. I was startled that it was off.鈥�
Fried signed a in December 2024 and led the major leagues in wins last year when he went 19-5 with a 2.86 ERA. The 32-year-old left-hander, who had not pitched since May 14 because of a , is 4-3 with a 2.97 ERA.
He threw 52 pitches over three innings Friday in a rehab outing for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and was to make another rehab outing for the RailRiders on Wednesday. Then Tuesday night’s game was postponed because rain was forecast, creating the doubleheader.
Fried was in the clubhouse Tuesday and Boone happened to be there with pitching coach Matt Blake and other mound staff.
鈥淚 walked in and just kind of jokingly said like: 鈥楢re you guys figuring out who鈥檚 pitching the doubleheader tomorrow?鈥� thinking they were going to choose which game it was going to be between Will and Gerrit,鈥� Fried recalled. 鈥淎nd then they kind of looked at me and gave me a look of like: 鈥榃ould you be on?鈥� I was, 鈥極h wait, we鈥檙e serious?鈥� I was like, 鈥榊eah. Like, I mean, I鈥檓 going to pitching anyway.鈥� So I was 鈥� as soon as they said that, I said, 鈥榊eah, you guys make the decision, but if you want me to pitch, I鈥檓 ready.鈥欌��
He struck out seven and walked one while throwing 37 of 57 pitches for strikes and retiring his last 12 batters.
鈥淚t鈥檚 something that I鈥檝e been looking forward to for a while now and kind of sucks that I got hurt when I did to delay that, but better late than never,鈥� Fried said.
His four-seam fastball averaged 96.2 mph, 1.5 mph above his season average coming in.
鈥淚t鈥檚 as good as he鈥檚 looked all year,鈥� Boone said.
New York currently is still missing left-hander Carlos Rod贸n, who . Right-hander Clarke Schmidt threw 20 pitches of batting practice in his second BP session since and probably will have another in a few days.
鈥淗opefully in the final couple of months of the regular season that rotation can continue to be a real strength for us,鈥� Boone said.
Cole had been waiting 19 months to go back-to-back with Fried.
鈥淲e were so excited when we signed him. He鈥檚 just a magnificent pitcher and he鈥檚 a great compliment to the other starters that we have in our rotation,鈥� he said. 鈥淒efinitely looking forward to the next few months.鈥�
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