NEW YORK (AP) — Max Fried combined with two relievers on a one-hitter to become the major leagues’ first six-game winner and lead the New York Yankees over the Tampa Bay Rays 3-0 on Friday night.
Aaron Judge hit his second triple of the season and doubled in the sixth ahead of Paul Goldschmidt’s three-run homer to raise his major league-leading average to .430 and extend his on-base streak to 28 games.
Nearly two weeks after a no-hit bid against the Rays ended in the eighth inning with a retroactive scoring change, Fried (6-0) allowed a clean single to José Caballero with one out in the fifth.
Fried struck out six, walked two and got 10 groundball outs as he won his sixth straight start and helped the Yankees improve to 7-0 in his outings. He lowered his AL-leading ERA to 1.01 in his third scoreless start this season. Fried is 4-0 with a 0.00 ERA following Yankees losses.
Goldschmidt hs third homer of the season in the fifth after left-hander Mason Montgomery relieved Ryan Pepiot (2-4).
Devin Williams threw eight pitches in a perfect eighth in his third straight hitless outing since he was dropped as New York’s closer. Luke Weaver struck out two in a perfect ninth for his third save.
New York has pitched three shutouts this year — all against the Rays.
Tampa Bay has lost four straight games, totaling just three runs. The Rays have been blanked five times.
Goldschmidt raised his average to .361, second in the majors behind Judge, and is hitting a big league-best .586 (17 for 29) against left-handers.
Pepiot allowed two runs and five hits in a season-low 4 1/3 innings.
Key Moment
Montgomery threw five straight sliders against Ben Rice to get a strikeout. He went to his fastball against Goldschmidt, who hit an 0-1 pitch into the right-field seats.
Key Stat
Fried picked off Christopher Morel in the second. Fried’s 32 pickoffs since 2017 are the most in the majors.
Up Next
Tampa Bay RHP Zack Littell (1-5, 5.03 ERA) opposes New York RHP Clarke Schmidt (0-1, 5.52) on Saturday.
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