The New York Yankees have enjoyed an idyllic start to the 2026 campaign, and their 5-0 win over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday offered yet another reason for fans and pundits to wonder if the group is particularly locked in this year.
All-Star starting pitcher Max Fried picked up his second win of the season and was sure to speak about the competitive edge that the club has utilized to start the new slate.
“We have a lot of really talented guys that are really motivated, and we've been waiting for this opportunity to have the season start and go and compete,” Fried told Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News. “We want to go win, and we're leaving everything out there.”
Fried tossed seven innings of scoreless baseball and only surrendered three hits while also striking out six batters. The 32-year-old has yet to allow a run over his first two starts, and has been a critical piece of a rotation that is sporting a 0.66 ERA through five games.
As a team, New York has allowed three runs this season and tied the 1943 Cardinals for the fewest by a team through its first five games. The staff’s dominance has not been lost on Yankees’ slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who went 2-for-4 and collected two RBIs in the winning effort.
“They’ve made it easier on us, for sure,” Stanton told Greg Joyce of the New York Post. “It’s a much easier at-bat when the other team has zero runs. So just continue to have good at-bats, continue to watch them dominate and try to get this series [Wednesday].”
The Yankees will look to earn a series win against the Mariners on Wednesday evening and try to stack wins as they wait for starters like Gerrit Cole, Clarke Schmidt, and Carlos Rodon to return from injury later this season.
