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Max Fried struggled while allowing five hits and three runs before leaving after only three innings on Wednesday in Baltimore.

The New York Yankees have pitched like the best team in baseball, but they could ill afford to lose ace Max Fried.

Yet, Fried exited the Yankees’ getaway-day game against the Baltimore Orioles after only three innings due to left elbow posterior soreness.

Fried is slated to have an MRI on his throwing elbow when the Yankees return to New York this weekend. The Yankees have a three-game series against the crosstown rival New York Mets.

If Fried is forced to miss extended time due to the elbow injury, the Yankees have elite options, since Carlos Rodon just returned after his own elbow surgery, and 2023 AL Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole is rehabbing his way back from 2025 Tommy John surgery.

Still, Fried has been an ace since signing a seven-year contract with the Yankees in the 2024 offseason. This season he is 4-2 with a 3.21 ERA in 61 2/3 innings, which leads the majors.

In 42 outings over a season-plus with the Yankees, Fried is 23-7 with a 2.94 ERA in 257 innings pitched. He finished fourth in American League Cy Young Award voting after leading the majors with 19 wins in 2025.

Max Fried Exited Wednesday’s Game After Three Innings

Fried did not come out for the fourth inning and was replaced by long reliever Paul Blackburn. Cameras on Amazon Prime Video captured Fried going to the Yankees clubhouse after retiring the side in the third inning, and manager Aaron Boone and pitching coach Matt Blake following him.

Fried was not sharp against the Orioles, allowing five hits and three earned runs while striking out two and walking one and throwing just 34 of 61 pitches for strikes.

He struggled to get on top of his curveball, especially against right-handed hitters, where he left his off-speed pitches to the arm side.

Fried was also burned by hard contact. Colby Mayo smoked a ground ball with a 111.1 mph RBI double that gave Baltimore a 1-0 lead in the second inning.

Longtime nemesis Pete Alonso also got the better of Fried with a pair of hard-hit singles off the Yankees ace. Alonso had a 100.5-mph single in the second then finished off Fried with a sharp RBI single to right field that scored Taylor Ward and made it 3-0, before Alonso was tagged out trying to go to second base.

Paul Blackburn Entered the Game for Max Fried in the Fourth Inning

Blackburn started throwing quickly in the Yankees’ bullpen and entered the game after their offense was retired in order in the top of the fourth.

Blackburn pitched a perfect fourth inning before serving up a 370-foot two-run home run to Adley Rutschmann — off right fielder Spencer Jones’ outstretched glove — that put the Orioles on top 5-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning.

The Yankees struggled offensively against Baltimore starter Kyle Bradish. Bradish allowed just one hit — a fifth-inning double to Jazz Chisholm Jr. — and walked three while striking out seven in six shutout innings.