Rays Avoid Max Fried No-Hit Bid, But Get Shut Out Again in 4-0 Loss to Yankees

New York Yankees starter Max Fried flirted with an on-again, off-again no-hitter on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays. He didn't make history, but got the win anyway in an easy 4-0 victory in the series finale at Steinbrenner Field.

New York Yankees pitcher Max Fried (54) is greeted in the dugout after allowing just two hits Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays got shut out for the third time in five days on Sunday, losing 4-0 to Max Fried and the New York Yankees. The Rays' offense provided very little excitement on the day, and almost no drama.

The was more drama in the press box.

Fried, the Yankees' big free-agent offseason acquisition, was flirting with a no-hitter. With one out in the sixth inning, Rays rookie Chandler Simpson — considered by many the fastest player in baseball even though he's only been in the big leagues for two days — hit a ground ball to the right of Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, and it bounced off his glove.

Long-time official scorer Bill Matthews ruled it an error, and fans, players and others shook their heads in real time. Simpson was well up the line, and Fried was coming over to cover first, but even if Goldschmidt had fielded the ball cleanly, his throw to Fried would have never been on time.

With Simpson on first, Fried just kept on working. "I didn't care whether it was a hit or not. There was a runner on first, and that's all I was focusing on,'' Fried said. He got Yandy Diaz to line out to center field and Junior Caminero flied out to right, and the inning was over.

Fried cruised through the seventh, getting two popouts before hitting Curtis Mead with a pitch. Rays catcher Danny Jansen flied out to right to end the seventh, and everyone in the Yankees dugout thought Fried still had a no-hitter.

He went back out for the eighth inning, but before he did, Matthews announced in the press box that there was a scoring change on the Simpson play, changing it from an error to a hit. He said it ''was very apparent'' that Simpson would have won the race to first base.

It became a moot point in the eighth when Rays right fielder Jake Mangum led off the inning with a single. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he wasn't aware of the scoring change but would have sent Fried out there for the eighth inning anyway because their ''bullpen was gassed and we wanted to go as long as we could with him.''

Fried got two more outs and came out after throwing 102 pitches. Fernando Cruz got the final four outs for a save, and the Yankees leave Tampa having won three of four games in their usual spring training home at Steinbrenner Field. The Yankees are now 14-8 on the season and have a two-game lead in the American League East.

The Rays are 9-13, and in last place in the AL East, five games behind the Yankees. That's not good, considering they've played 19 of their first 22 games in their temporary home. With inconsistent hitting, they've squandered a golden opportunity to get off to a hot start.

Ryan Pepiot took the loss for the Rays. He gave up three runs in six innings — including a leadoff homer to Trent Grisham in the first and a solo shot to Cody Bellinger in the sixth — to fall to 1-3 on the season.

'The Rays hit the road now after an off day on Monday. They will play the Arizona Diamondbacks three times in Phoenix, Ariz., and then spend the weekend in San Diego, with three games against the Padres.

Maybe facing some National League opposition will be a good thing. They Rays are 6-3 vs. the NL so far, winning series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Colorado Rockies and Atlanta Braves. They are just 3-10 against American League foes, and 2-5 against AL East opposition.