Aaron Boone Talks Decision to Pull Max Fried in 7th Inning of Yankees’ Loss to Red Sox

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone will certainly be second guessed after he removed starting pitcher Max Fried in the top of the seventh inning of Tuesday’s 3-1 playoff loss to the Boston Red Sox, especially since the visitors scored two runs in the next three batters.

But he told reporters there was a strategic plan in place that motivated the move.

“They pressured him pretty good in the fourth, fifth, sixth, he had a couple base runners each inning,” Boone said. “So, I felt like he kind of cruised through the first few, and obviously he ends up pitching great, but I felt like he had to work pretty hard. I was going to have the sixth be the end, but once we finished with the double play I wanted him to go out and get [Jarren] Duran. It felt like we were lined up.”

Boston did have at least one base runner in four consecutive innings against Fried from the third through the sixth. And the southpaw also threw 102 pitches, many of which were of the high-stress variety out of the stretch.

Still, he managed to escape all those issues and didn’t allow a single run in 6.1 innings of work despite giving up four hits and three walks.

The results also magnified the decision, as Luke Weaver came in for Fried and immediately gave up a walk to Ceddanne Rafaela, double to Nick Sogard and two-RBI single to Masataka Yoshida.

Just like that, the Yankees’ 1-0 lead turned into a 2-1 deficit.

Fernando Cruz cleaned up the mess in relief of Weaver to keep the Yankees within striking distance, but the entire game and perhaps series changed with the three-batter stretch.

Boston pushed an insurance run across in the top of the ninth, but New York still had an opportunity to win in the bottom half of the final frame when it loaded the bases with nobody out. However, Aroldis Chapman struck out Giancarlo Stanton, retired Jazz Chisholm Jr. and struck out Trent Grisham to end the game.

It was a missed golden opportunity for the Yankees, who ended up spoiling an impressive start by Fried with poor hitting and Weaver’s struggles.

Garrett Crochet was brilliant for the Red Sox as the starting pitcher and allowed a single run and four hits while striking out 11 in 7.2 innings. Chapman notched the final four outs, which means the rest of the bullpen will be fresh for Wednesday’s Game 2.

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