Max Fried's dominant 7-inning, 8K performance led the Yankees to a 6-2 win over the Orioles on June 20, 2025, silencing Baltimore's bats in the Bronx.
StatPro MLB Beat Reporter
The Baltimore Orioles rolled into Yankee Stadium on Friday hoping to build on a recent series split, but instead ran into a brick wall named Max Fried. The Yankees' ace was masterful, stifling the Orioles' lineup for seven innings as New York cruised to a 6-2 victory, dropping the Birds to 32-43 on the season.
Max Fried struck out 8 Orioles over 7 strong innings, continuing his Cy Young-caliber season and leaving Baltimore's offense searching for answers.
Orioles starter Tomoyuki Sugano battled but couldn't keep the potent Yankees lineup at bay. Over five innings, Sugano was tagged for five runs, punctuated by a towering home run from Paul Goldschmidt that broke the game open. While Adley Rutschman managed a multi-hit game from the DH spot, the rest of the lineup struggled to piece anything together against Fried, who looked every bit the part of a pitcher with a 9-2 record and a 1.89 ERA. It was a classic case of a top-tier pitcher shutting down an offense that needed everything to go right.
While the final score was disappointing, the continued emergence of Colton Cowser remains a major bright spot. Coming into Friday's game, Cowser was riding a three-game home run streak, including a dominant 2-for-4 performance on Thursday with a three-run blast and a double against the Rays. His recent power surge has been a critical injection of life into the offense. While he was kept in the yard on Friday, his presence in the lineup provides a legitimate threat that the team has desperately needed.
The loss keeps the Orioles firmly in 5th place in a competitive AL East. Under manager Tony Mansolino, who took over for Brandon Hyde earlier this season, the team has shown flashes of promise but has struggled to find the consistency needed to climb the ladder. With no major roster moves announced, the Orioles are counting on the current group to find a spark. Friday's game served as a stark reminder of the gap between the Orioles and the top of the division, a gap they'll need more than just one hot hitter to close.
It's just one game in a long season, but losses in the division always sting a little more. The Orioles will have to shake this one off quickly and come back tomorrow with a new game plan. The key will be getting a deeper start from their pitcher and finding a way to generate offense up and down the lineup, not just in spurts. Here's hoping the Birds can even the series and take some momentum out of the Bronx.
