BOSTON — Whether it is the quality of their arms or the ineptitude of their opponents’ bats — or perhaps a mix of both — the Yankees pitching staff is at it again.
Max Fried became the latest starter to throw up a string of zeroes, this one turning into a masterpiece.
Fried tossed eight shutout innings, dominating a helpless Red Sox lineup en route to a 4-1 win on a frigid Wednesday night at Fenway Park.
The Yankees (15-9) came within an out of throwing three straight shutouts for the first time since 1962, but the Red Sox (9-15) saved face with a run in the bottom of the ninth against Brent Headrick.
That run snapped the Yankees’ scoreless streak at 26 innings — over three games started by Ryan Weathers, Luis Gil and Fried — which surpassed the 20-inning scoreless streak they posted to begin this season.
Fried began that stretch and then finished off this one, scattering three hits and two walks while striking out nine. The left-hander retired 14 straight to end the night, punctuating it by striking out Willson Contreras on his 100th and final pitch.
After Giancarlo Stanton powered the offense in Tuesday’s shutout, Amed Rosario fueled it on Wednesday. The third baseman drove in all four runs, including a three-run shot off Red Sox lefty Ranger Suarez in the top of the first inning that set the tone for the night.
Stanton picked up where he left off. Aaron Judge drew a one-out walk in the top of the first inning before Stanton came up with two outs and roped a double to left field.
Rosario then got a changeup down the middle from Suarez and clobbered it to Lansdowne Street, blasting a 416-foot shot over the Green Monster for the 3-0 lead.
In the third inning, after Stanton smoked a double off the Monster to put runners on second and third, Rosario delivered a sacrifice fly that made it 4-0.
Meanwhile, Fried got better as the night went on. The Red Sox’s best chance to score came in the second inning, when he walked the leadoff man and Jarren Duran hit one of his two doubles on the night. But with runners on second and third, Fried buckled down and struck out the next three batters in a row to escape the threat.
Fried got some quality defense behind him to keep the shutout intact, including a pair of terrific plays by third baseman Ryan McMahon, who entered the game in the bottom of the sixth after Rosario was pinch-hit for by Ben Rice.
