Max Fried-Gerrit Cole combo was worth the wait in doubleheader split with Pirates
It almost did not matter that the Yankees’ offense swung as if it was put together from whatever Hal Steinbrenner could find in the cushions of his limo.Not when they finally unveiled a duo who, in their first time pitching alongside the other, demonstrated why they arrived with a combined $542 million price tag.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.
Max Fried and Gerrit Cole — together at last — were worth the wait, each a different shade of excellent to help the Yankees salvage a doubleheader split Wednesday despite the club’s offense mostly taking the day off.Fried, a surprise to even be on a major league mound after only one brief rehab start, showed no rust over five excellent, scoreless innings to guide the Yankees to a 2-0 victory in the nightcap.A combined 84,354 fans in The Bronx saw the Yankees’ offense scuffle, going 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position in the 5-3, 10-inning loss in the opener and scoreless in the second game until the seventh inning, when a Jasson Domínguez double and Anthony Volpe single scored the only runs they would need.But the day probably will be remembered for a pitching pair with a combined nine All-Star Games tallying 12 innings in which they let up three runs, five hits and a walk with 18 strikeouts.This was a day that had been in the making since Dec.17, 2024, when the Yankees locked up Fried on a $218 million pact to be the sidekick of Cole and his $324 million mega-deal.Injuries continually thwarted that vision, from Cole’s Tommy John surgery in 2025 to Fried’s bone bruise in mid-May this year.But with Fried jumping to the major league rotation after just a three-inning rehab start, the pair hopes to have two-plus months and a postseason to see what damage they can do with Cam Schlittler and Carlos Rodón, once he returns.“I missed him all year,” Cole said of Fried after letting up two home runs a...