BASEBALL: Max Fried deals as Yankees blank Giants on Opening Night

Max Fried delivered 6 1/3 innings of shutout pitching as the New York Yankees defeated the San Francisco Giants 7-0 on Opening Night of the 2026 season, spoiling the managerial debut of Tony Vitello.

Trent Grisham led a five-run second inning with a two-run triple, while Ryan McMahon added a two-run single. Giancarlo Stanton and Austin Wells each collected two hits as the Yankees capitalized on a shaky start from the Giants’ pitching.

Aaron Judge and Giants starter Logan Webb, both expected to be key players, struggled. Judge struck out four times, just one shy of his career high, including in the pivotal second inning. Stanton began the inning with a one-out single, followed by Jazz Chisholm Jr. being hit by a pitch. Jose Caballero drove in the first run with an RBI single, and McMahon’s two-run single made it 3-0.

Wells singled on Webb’s next pitch, and Grisham cleared the fence in right-center field, driving in McMahon and Wells to complete the five-run frame. The Yankees added two more runs in the fifth inning on an RBI single by Stanton and a throwing error by Giants shortstop Willy Adames.

Fried coasted through the game, allowing just a one-out single to Rafael Devers in the first and a two-out single to Heliot Ramos in the fourth. Last year’s 19-game winner was pulled early in the seventh after 86 pitches, finishing with four strikeouts and one walk.

Jake Bird, Brent Headrick, and Camilo Doval closed out the final eight outs, giving the Yankees their first Opening Day shutout over the Giants since a 5-0 win in New York three years ago.

Judge went 0-for-5, marking his first hitless Opening Day in 10 starts. Webb (0-1) was charged with seven runs (six earned) over five innings, walking one and striking out seven, unable to deliver a win for Vitello, the first major league manager with no prior professional playing or coaching experience.

-Field Level Media/Reuters