It was a night that began with hope. The New York Yankees led 5-2 after five innings, as the dugout roared.
But baseball, like life, has a cruel way of humbling you when you least expect it. One minute, you’re high-fiving everybody, and the next, you’re staring into the unforgiving abyss of an 8-5 loss.
Friday’s series opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers had the makings of a statement win. Instead, it turned into a case study in how not to manage a baseball game.
Max Fried falters at the worst possible time
When the Yankees landed Max Fried in free agency, it was a $218 million bet that he’d be their ace. Until Friday, he had mostly delivered.
But against the Dodgers, the wheels came off in the sixth inning. Fried allowed a solo shot to Shohei Ohtani, then gave up two singles and a double. It was the dreaded third time through the order, yet manager Aaron Boone stuck with him.
The result? Four runs, some of which scored after Fried exited, and a once-safe 5-2 lead was suddenly dust in the wind.
Boone’s decision not to pull Fried earlier left fans frustrated. It wasn’t just hindsight. It was a glaring mistake in real time.
Ohtani and the Dodgers’ offense feast
Shohei Ohtani didn’t just show up — he erupted. Two towering home runs echoed through Dodger Stadium like thunderclaps.
Freddie Freeman was laser-focused, collecting three hits and two doubles. Andy Pages drove in three, and even without Mookie Betts, the Dodgers’ top five hitters looked like a buzzsaw.
Combined, Ohtani, Freeman, Teoscar Hernández, Will Smith, and Pages went 10-for-21 with seven runs and six RBI. It was offensive poetry, and the Yankees had no answers.
You could feel the momentum shift. Every hit felt like a gut punch, and once the Dodgers took the lead, the Yankees never really recovered.
Boone’s head-scratching decisions fuel the collapse
If baseball is a chess match, Boone was playing checkers on Friday night.
Why leave Fried in after Ohtani’s homer? Or, in any case, why not take him out after the single he gave up immediately after that? Or when he allowed yet another single?
Fried really, really shouldn’t have faced Freeman for a third time, no matter the lefty-on-lefty advantage.
Why trust Yerry De Los Santos, a low-leverage reliever, in the seventh inning of a one-run game? He promptly allowed three straight hits that added two insurance runs and buried New York’s hopes.
Why pinch-hit DJ LeMahieu for J.C. Escarra with runners in the corners and two outs in the eighth after Dodgers manager Dave Roberts brought in Tanner Scott to face Escarra?
LeMahieu, running a .494 OPS, flied out to end the threat.
It’s these moments that separate wins from losses, contenders from pretenders. Boone has managed plenty of good games this year. But this wasn’t one of them.
Yankees’ loss stings as bigger questions loom
At 35-21, the Yankees are still in a good place. But this loss, this squandered opportunity, will leave a mark.
Fried will bounce back. The offense will have better days. But when your manager’s decisions directly cost you a win, it lingers.
There’s a rhythm to baseball — a tempo, a heartbeat. And when that gets disrupted by poor choices, everything spirals. Friday night was that kind of storm.
And when you lose a game you should have won, it feels less like a loss and more like a lesson.
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