Visiting Yankees turn to Max Fried, looking to claim series from Cubs

The visiting New York Yankees will try to keep the Chicago Cubs quiet at the plate when they meet for the second game of their three-game series on Saturday evening.

New York starter Will Warren threw 6 2/3 shutout innings in a 2-0 win in the series opener on Friday afternoon.

"That has been much of the story of the year for us," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "Our starting pitching has been excellent."

Max Fried will get his opportunity when he starts for New York on Saturday.

Warren was followed on Friday by Paul Blackburn, who threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings of relief before David Bednar pitched the ninth for his 23rd save.

Warren, Blackburn and Bednar combined for 10 strikeouts and no walks.

"Anytime somebody can get 27 outs against us and we don't have a walk, that means somebody is doing a pretty good job and they've got a lot of stuff working," Chicago manager Craig Counsell said.

The Cubs are still comfortably ahead in the first wild-card slot in the National League, but fell 6 1/2 games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central.

Fried (4-3, 3.23 ERA) was limited to three innings in his last outing on Monday. He gave up three runs and five hits in the 9-5 win against the Chicago White Sox, his second start since missing two months with bone bruise in his pitching elbow.

"I wish I would've been sharper to be able to get some more innings, but I came out of it well, especially with some high-stress innings," Fried said.

Fried has pitched well against the Cubs in his career, owning a 6-1 mark in seven starts with a 1.76 ERA.

His only loss against the Cubs came in his last appearance against them, when he allowed four runs (three earned) in three innings before departing with a blister on his throwing hand in a 5-2 defeat on July 12, 2025.

David Peterson is set to take the mound on Saturday for Chicago.

Peterson (6-7, 5.80) has won his past two starts, most recently limiting the St. Louis Cardinals to two runs and three hits in 5 2/3 innings of a 7-3 win last Monday. He threw 6 2/3 shutout innings in his previous start, an 11-2 win against the Detroit Tigers on July 21.

"I definitely wanted to get out there and give us a good start and execute my pitches," Peterson said. "I felt like we were able to learn some stuff, clean some stuff up from the last time I saw them. That was good to see."

Peterson was acquired from the New York Mets on June 25 in exchange for minor league first baseman Cole Mathis.

"David pitched really, really well," Counsell said. "I obviously haven't seen a lot of David when he was at his best [with the Mets], but the ground balls and kind of the swings at the sinker, it feels like this is what it looks like. It was good to see."

Peterson has made five appearances against the Yankees in his career, including three starts, and is 1-0 with a 4.34 ERA in those games.

Cubs reliever Antoine Kelly made his MLB debut on Friday and struck out designated hitter Ben Rice with two runners on to end the eighth. He then pitched a scoreless ninth.

"I thought Antoine was great," Counsell said. "That's a difficult situation to make your debut in. You're facing one of the best hitters in baseball this year, and he made some great pitches and gave us two more chances to tie the game."

--Field Level Media