Wednesday's doubleheader against the Pirates was supposed to be about one thing: Max Fried finally throwing a pitch that counted again. Instead, Game 1 turned into its own grind, with Gerrit Cole and Pirates starter Mitch Keller trading zeros before the Yankees offense had to scratch and claw its way out of a hole.
Cole was dealing early, mixing his full arsenal to blow through the Pirates lineup.
Cole looked every bit the ace through the first few innings, but Pittsburgh chipped away. Bryan Reynolds and Nick Gonzales both left the yard off him, turning a clean start into a 3-0 hole and putting the Yankees offense on the clock in a game they badly needed to salvage before the second half even started.
Ben Rice erased the deficit with a 3-run homer, his 30th of the season, to tie the game back up.
That's when Rice bailed everybody out. His 3-run shot squared things back up and swung the whole vibe of the day, and the Yankees kept pushing from there, eventually getting a go-ahead knock from Jasson Dominguez to nose in front late. Eric Hubbs wasn't shy about how ugly it got in the meantime, griping that letting Keller cruise through 5 scoreless innings before that was "unacceptable" for a lineup that's supposed to be a strength.
Jasson Dominguez came through with the go-ahead run late in Game 1.
All of that noise from Game 1 was really just the undercard. The real story of the day was supposed to start in the nightcap, when Fried was set to make his first big-league start since a left elbow bone bruise shelved him back in mid-May. Before he went down, Fried had been outstanding, posting a 3.21 ERA and 50 strikeouts across 10 starts, and the Yankees were careful with his comeback, skipping an extra rehab outing and instead easing him back in with a strict 60-pitch limit against Pittsburgh rather than making him wait for a normal turn through the rotation.
Marty Mush summed up the day as a big organizational win with Fried finally back in the fold.
Max Fried being back is so huge and great win by the Yankees. This is a classy organization and team
Getting Fried back matters a lot more than one line in a box score. New York's rotation depth has been stretched thin, and a healthy Fried slotting back in behind Cole gives Boone options he hasn't had in months heading into the stretch run. The Yankees still have to prove Wednesday's offensive stumbling in Game 1 was a blip and not a pattern, but with their $218 million lefty back on the mound, at least one big question mark just got a lot smaller.