TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Max Fried lost a no-hit bid in the eighth inning when the official scorer changed an earlier decision to a hit, and the Yankees went on to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-0 Sunday in a game that featured manager Aaron Boone’s first ejection of the season.
Rookie Chandler Simpson hit a grounder into the hole between first and second with one out in the sixth and reached when the ball bounced off the glove of first baseman Paul Goldschmidt.
Official scorer Bill Mathews at first called the play an error,
Fried was hitless through seven innings and was about to throw his first pitch of the eighth when Mathews announced he changed the decision to an error. Mathews said he looked at several video replays and determined Simpson would have beaten any throw to first.
Jake Mangum then led off the eighth with a clean single to center. Fried (4-0) allowed two hits in 7 2/3 innings as the Yankees won for the fifth time in six games.
Trent Grisham, Cody Bellinger and Austin Wells hit solo homers. Aaron Judge hit a long drive in the eighth that the Yankees thought was a home run but was ruled foul, a decision upheld by a video review.
Tampa Bay is 10-9, including 9-10 at Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees spring training home that is being used by the Rays because of hurricane damage at Tropicana Field. The Rays have been shut out in three of their last five games.
Fernando Cruz finished the two-hitter for his second save.
Ryan Pepiot (1-3) gave up three runs and six hits in six innings.
Key moment
Fried’s abrupt pickoff move caught Christopher Morel at second to end the fourth.
Key stat
New York is 5-0 in Fried’s starts.
Up next
Yankees: RHP Clarke Schmidt (0-0, 4.76 ERA) starts Monday’s series opener at Cleveland, which goes with RHP Gavin Williams (1-1, 4.58).
Rays: RHP Zack Littell (0-4, 5.48) starts Tuesday’s opener of a six-game trip at Arizona, which sends RHP Brandon Pfaadt (3-1, 3.04) to the mound.
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