SEATTLE — Max Fried’s first start of the season was a self-admitted grind, even though all he did was throw up zeroes.
In his second go-around Tuesday night, it was more of the same, but there was nothing grinding about it.
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Fried was simply dominant across seven shutout innings, mowing down the Mariners in a 5-0 win at T-Mobile Park to continue the Yankees’ terrific pitching to begin the season.
With their third shutout in five games, the Yankees became only the second team in major league history to allow three or fewer runs in their first five games of a season, joining the 1943 St. Louis Cardinals.
Fried is now responsible for starting two of those shutouts. After tossing 6 ¹/₃ scoreless innings Opening Day against the Giants, the left-hander was even better Tuesday, scattering three singles, one walk and one hit batter while striking out six in a breeze of an outing.
The Mariners did not reach second base until the seventh inning and never went farther than that against him.
Brent Headrick and Tim Hill each threw a scoreless inning to complete the shutout, setting up a rubber game Wednesday in which the Yankees will send Cam Schlittler — who started their other shutout on the year — to the mound.
Through five games, the Yankees rotation owns a 0.66 ERA, allowing two runs across 27 ¹/₃ innings.
Just like Opening Day, Fried got an early lead to work with and plenty of run support as the Yankees got to Mariners ace Logan Gilbert, a night after being stifled by Luis Castillo.
Giancarlo Stanton was right in the middle of things offensively once again, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a double while becoming only the fourth player in Yankees history to record multiple hits in the team’s first five games of the season.
The veteran DH finished the night 10-for-20 on the year.
Ben Rice (2-for-2, two walks) reached base four times and Cody Bellinger (2-for-3, walk) got on three times, with each scoring a pair of runs.
Trent Grisham also turned in his best game of the season, going 2-for-4 with a ground-rule double and a strong running catch into the gap in the second inning that robbed Randy Arozarena of extra bases.
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After mustering just five hits and scoring only one run in Monday’s walk-off loss, the Yankees wasted little time improving upon that performance against another tough pitcher.
Bellinger got the rally started with two outs in the top of the first inning when he drilled a single off Gilbert, then came all the way around to score on Rice’s double down the first base line.
Stanton, who can light up Statcast like no other, used a well-placed bloop for the second straight night to add to his growing hit tally. This one came on a pop-up into no-man’s-land down the right field line that found grass, scoring Rice for the 2-0 lead.
Bellinger made the final out of the third inning when he tried to steal second but was nailed by a perfect throw from Cal Raleigh on which shortstop Leo Rivas never moved his glove right in front of the bag.
But Bellinger got some redemption in the sixth inning, when with runners on the corners and one out he attempted another steal, with Raleigh’s throw sailing into center field, allowing Grisham to score from third for the 3-0 lead.
That was the start of a three-run rally that also included an RBI double from Stanton and an RBI single from Jazz Chisholm Jr.
