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 fifth straight Yankees win, this one by a 4-1 score 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.
“Obviously starting pitching sets the tone for everything,” manager Aaron Boone said. “To get two really good ones here to start the series and hand the ball off to [Cam Schlittler on Thursday], hopefully have another one. They’re the tone setters.”
Fried began that first long scoreless streak and then finished off this one, scattering three hits and two walks while striking out nine.
He retired 14 straight to end the night, punctuating it by striking out Willson Contreras on his 100th and final pitch.
The left-hander got better as the game went on in part because he ditched his windup after the second inning, which he said he might have only done once before in his career.
He had walked two batters through the first two innings, both out of the windup, giving him 10 free passes this season with no one on, compared to none with runners on.
So with some encouragement from pitching coach Matt Blake, after escaping a two-on, no-out jam in the second inning, Fried started the third out of the stretch and cruised from there.
“For whatever reason this year, I’ve walked a ton of guys in the windup and I haven’t walked anyone in the stretch,” said Fried, who described his mechanics as being “rushy” too often. “When you look at the numbers like that and you sit there and walk two guys early on, knowing that the walks have really hurt me, especially with no one on base, I just said, ‘You know what? You got to suck up your pride and just say whatever’s working, you got to go and do.’”
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The end result was Fried’s third scoreless start out of six games this year, lowering the Yankees starters’ ERA to 2.67 through 24 games — all without Carlos Rodón and Gerrit Cole, who could return from the injured list by next month.
“It’s been incredible,” Giancarlo Stanton said. “They’ve been dominant and really locked in. It’s easier on the offensive side when they’re going like that. They’ll continue to work and push the envelope.”
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After Stanton powered the offense in Tuesday’s shutout, Amed Rosario fueled it 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.
Stanton picked up where he left off, going 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles.
The first came in the top of the first inning when the Yankees grinded out at-bats against Suarez before Rosario delivered the big swing — clobbering a changeup down the middle and sending it over the Green Monster onto Lansdowne Street for a 3-0 lead.
Rosario, who has improved his bat speed and launch angle by going to Driveline in each of the last three offseasons, now has four home runs in 17 games this season. He later added a sacrifice fly in the third inning that scored Aaron Judge to make it 4-0.
“Rosie was nasty tonight and came up big,” Stanton said.
Fried took care of the rest, with some help from the defense behind him — including a pair of terrific plays by third baseman Ryan McMahon after he entered the game in the bottom of the sixth. He made a slick backhanded play on a grounder down the line to finish the sixth and then dove to his right to rob Isiah Kiner-Falefa of a hit to lead off the eighth.
“Wow,” Boone said. “Those are two tremendous plays.”
