Yankees can’t solve Fried, fall to Atlanta for third straight series loss

Max Fried has been coming out slowly this season.

But, Aaron Boone said Sunday morning, the left-hander had recently become Max Fried again.

Meaning?

“One of the best in the game,” Boone said.

That’s the version of Fried the Yankees saw Sunday afternoon in oven-like conditions at the stadium.

Fried held the Yankees in check for six dominant innings of a 3-1 loss to Atlanta before a seated crowd of 46,683 on a sweltering afternoon in which the heat index reached 100.

Fried, who had a 4.02 ERA in late April but had a 2.00 ERA in his previous 10 starts Sunday, allowed one run and six hits in his 87-pitch outing. Two of the hits came from Trent Grisham. Fried (7-3, 3.00) struck out four and failed to walk a batter.

“He didn’t walk with anyone, so he was dictating the counts and he was mixing it up well,” Boone said. “Four-seam, two-seam, cutter, slow down with the big breaking ball, good changeup. I thought he threw the ball well. We obviously put pressure on him with some good at-bats in the sixth. I had a chance to break through, but I just couldn’t do it today.

The Yankees (52-28) are off Monday. They have lost seven of their last 10 games and three straight series heading into the Subway Series, which begins Tuesday at Citi Field.

“Nobody hangs their head, nobody panics here,” said Nestor Cortes, who allowed three runs and five hits in seven innings. “Just a tough time that you’re going to go through (more than) 162 games. Just ask him to find a way out.

Cortes, who pitched six scoreless innings in his last start against the Orioles, wasn’t bad but wasn’t good enough to compete with Fried. Cortes (4-6, 3.40) struck out seven and failed to walk a batter.

“About as good stuff as Nestor’s,” Boone said.

Atlanta relievers Pierce Johnson and Joe Jimenez each pitched scoreless innings, fielding the ball for Raisel Iglesias, who struck out two in a perfect ninth for his 20th save in 22 opportunities.

Cortes first struck out the side on 14 pitches. Jarred Kelenic fell while looking at a sinker, and Ozzie Albies and Marcell Ozuna both struck out while swinging at cutters.

Cortes worked around a two-out hit by pitch against Sean Murphy in the second and retired the first two batters in the third before Kelenic, a first-round draft pick of the Mets in 2018, jumped a first-pitch cutter and the put. in the right seats, his seventh homer makes the score 1-0.

It stayed that way until the fifth when Atlanta (43-32) added to its lead. Ramon Laureano singled with one out, went to third on Orlando Arcia’s double and came in on Kelenic’s sacrifice fly to center. Albies sent an RBI single to right that made it 3-0.

The Yankees didn’t find a runner in scoring position until the sixth, when they finally got on the board.

Grisham led off with a single and Anthony Volpe doubled into the gap in left center to bring him in. Juan Soto cut one too short where Arcia fired to third to cut off Volpe. The Yankees contested but the call was upheld. Alex Verdugo grounded into a double play in the bottom of the inning.

Boone, who felt Atlanta third baseman Austin Riley didn’t give Volpe room to slide and should have been pulled, had no problem with his second-year shortstop, known as a good base runner, who took off for third place.

“It’s behind him,” Boone said of Volpe’s position on the Soto grounder. “It’s actually a risky play on their part…a little roadblock there on third; we don’t see bag blocking (an off-season rule adjustment) being called that often at all. It’s behind him (Volpe), it turns into a very good play from Arcia. This poses no problem for me.

With the ball hit behind him, Volpe said “it’s my instinct” to go to third. Afterward, he did not state for certain that Riley had blocked his access to the bag, instead saying it was “just a weird play.”

“I don’t know. I’ll probably have to see him again, but it’s a tough play,” Volpe said. “The angle I’m coming in, the angle he’s trying to get into the baseline .It’s a difficult game.