The Yankees entered Sunday having lost three of four, as well as four of their last six.
But they had the perfect solution for their recent bump in the road: a start from Max Fried and then some power from Aaron Judge and Co.
It added up to a doubleheader sweep of Toronto on Sunday in The Bronx, with Fried pitching well in an 11-2 rout in the first game and Judge hitting a go-ahead homer in a 5-1 victory in the second game, when the Yankees went deep three times.
“Two strong starting performances, the bullpen did its thing and we got big swings along the way,’’ Aaron Boone said.
Fried delivered yet another terrific outing and the Yankees won for the sixth time in the left-hander’s six starts this season. He’s yet to allow more than two runs in an outing.
It helped that Toronto right-hander Kevin Gausman imploded with five walks in a six-run third.
Clarke Schmidt followed with his best outing since returning from right shoulder tendinitis in the second game. He limited Toronto to one run — on one hit — in five innings. The only blemish was Anthony Santander’s homer in the third, as Schmidt pitched around four walks.
But the Yankees got a leadoff home run from Trent Grisham in the first and then Judge’s shot to start the sixth.
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It was Judge’s eighth homer of the season and first in nine games, an opposite-field shot to right off Chris Bassitt, who had retired 10 in a row entering the inning.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Jasson Dominguez added RBI hits later in the inning to provide insurance, while four Yankee relievers followed Schmidt and shut down Toronto — including Luke Weaver, who tossed a scoreless ninth in his first appearance after replacing Devin Williams as closer.
The afternoon got off to a good start for the Yankees, as they took command in the bottom of the third of the first game.
Trailing 1-0, they forced Gausman to throw 53 pitches in the inning, the last of which resulted in a three-run double from Austin Wells.
The 11-run outburst was the most they scored since putting up a dozen runs against the Brewers on March 30.
Fried wasn’t as crisp as his previous outing, when he flirted with a no-hitter against the Rays, but he allowed just one run in six innings, as his ERA actually ticked up to 1.43.
The lefty has been everything the Yankees could ask for since signing a seven-year, $218 million deal as the team’s Juan Soto consolation prize.
“I think there’s an inning every start that he gets through and then rolls after that,” Wells said. “That’s why he’s had so much success. That’s why he’s here.”
Wells noted Fried has been “better” than his already high expectations.
“Getting to call games for him, it’s a fun back and forth,’’ Wells said.
On Sunday, Fried had to get through the first two innings before he locked in and shut down the Blue Jays.
Gausman’s control issues led to a bases-loaded walk by Jazz Chisholm Jr. to give the Yankees the lead.
Anthony Volpe fell behind 0-2, but fought back to draw another run-scoring walk.
Wells, after also fighting back from 0-2 to a full count, hammered a bases-clearing double to make it 6-1 and end Gausman’s day.
“Everyone dialed into the zone,” Wells said. “That turned into a lot of at-bats.”
Gausman was ejected by home plate umpire Chris Conroy as Toronto manager John Schneider was on his way to remove him from the game.
It was Gausman’s shortest outing in over a year, as the Yankees knocked him out in the second inning of a start on April 6, 2024.
Schneider was also tossed in the top of the fifth during a Guerrero at-bat for arguing balls and strikes.