TORONTO — In an on-paper mismatch that pitted ace Max Fried against rookie Trey Yesavage, the Yankees All-Star looked like the far more underwhelming arm.
Fried exited in the fourth inning — recording just one more out than Luis Gil had a night earlier — and was charged with seven runs on eight hits and two walks in a startling Game 2 dud at Rogers Centre on Sunday.
Two of those runs scored after Fried exited. He handed a two-on, none-out jam to Will Warren in the fourth.
In his postseason debut, Warren loaded the bases with a walk and later surrendered a grand slam to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. that put the Yankees in a stunning, 9-0 hole.
In a near must-win, trailing 1-0 in a best-of-five, Fried could not deliver. He allowed two runs in the second, when Daulton Varsho doubled (and reached third on an Aaron Judge error) before Ernie Clement sat on a first-pitch curveball that he blasted to left for a two-run edge.
The Jays added on the third, when a walk and three singles — including plenty of hard contact, such as another Varsho double and a rocket single into left from Clement — scored three more.
Meanwhile, Yesavage — a 22-year-old with 14 career major league innings — had not allowed a hit through five innings.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
