HOUSTON — Round 1 goes to the Yankees.
There are still 11 rounds to go in this heavyweight bout, but the Yankees got it began just about as effectively as they could have Tuesday evening.
Max Fried turned in an ace-like effort with seven robust innings and got some knockout blows from Trent Grisham (grand slam) and Jazz Chisholm Jr. (two home runs) to ship the Yankees to a 7-1 win over the Astros at Daikin Park.
The win kicked off a essential 12-game stretch against 4 fellow playoff contenders — this sequence adopted by ones against the Blue Jays, Tigers and Red Sox — in fashion as the Yankees (77-61) remained 2 ¹/₂ video games back of the Blue Jays for the division lead and in a digital tie with the Red Sox for the high AL wild card.
Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. (13) hits a home run during the second inning against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park on Sept. 2, 2025. Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
The Yankees have won eight of their previous 9 video games, and while seven of these wins came against two of the worst groups in the league, knocking off the Astros (76-63) in the sequence opener marked a step up in weight class.
Fried, who struggled for much of July and August, regarded more like his first-half self for the third straight begin in another encouraging signal. The left-hander scattered 4 hits and three walks while giving up just one run, fielding his place extremely effectively to assist shut down two separate threats.
Trent Grisham of the New York Yankees runs the bases after hitting a grand slam home run during the fifth inning against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park on Sept. 2, 2025 in Houston, Texas. Getty Images
Astros lefty Framber Valdez came into the evening having allowed just one home run to a left-handed hitter all season, but both Chisholm and Grisham took him deep across 5 innings.
Grisham delivered the large swing yet again, drilling a grand slam in the fifth inning to make it a 6-0 sport. It marked Grisham’s second grand slam in his previous 4 video games — after hitting one on Friday in Chicago to break open a one-run sport — and third of the season. It also marked his twenty ninth home run in what has become a breakout 12 months, and then some, for the pending free agent who was initially seen as a throw-in to the Juan Soto commerce.
Yankees beginning pitcher Max Fried (54) reacts during the seventh inning against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park. Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
The Yankees set the stage for the large blow in the fifth inning by loading the bases on a stroll from Paul Goldschmidt and singles by Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge. Still, Valdez was one out from escaping the inning before Grisham went the other approach on a sinker down the center and lofted it into the Crawford Boxes.
Chisholm had put the Yankees forward early by crushing a two-run shot off Valdez in the second inning. He added some insurance coverage in the eighth inning, smoking a solo shot off another lefty, Steven Okert, to prolong the Yankees lead to 7-1. It marked Chisholm’s twenty eighth home run of the 12 months and sixth in his previous 9 video games.
Fried did not encounter much bother across seven innings, but when he did, he was bailed out by a pair of bunts that snuffed out rallies, thanks in half to his terrific fielding.
In the third inning of a 2-0 sport, which he started by strolling a batter and hitting another, leadoff man Jeremy Peña tried to lay down a sacrifice bunt. But it went proper to the slick-fielding Fried, who fired to third to nail the lead runner. Two floor balls by Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve later, Fried was out of the inning unscathed.
Yankees catcher Austin Wells (28) celebrates with aid pitcher Paul Blackburn (58) after successful a baseball sport against the Houston Astros in Houston, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. AP
Then in the seventh inning of a 6-1 sport, after each of the first two batters reached, César Salazar popped up a bunt try. Fried got off the mound to make a sliding seize on it, then threw to first for the double play. Two pitches later, Fried was out of the inning and accomplished for the evening after seven robust innings.
After posting a 6.80 ERA across an eight-start stretch through Aug. 16, Fried has given up just two runs across 20 innings in his previous three begins mixed.
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