Reliable Max Fried, Aaron Judge power Yankees convincing doubleheader sweep of Blue Jays

The Yankees entered Sunday having lost three of four, as well as four of their past six.

But they had the perfect solution for their recent bump in the road: a start from Max Fried and some power from Aaron Judge.

The duo propelled the Yankees to a doubleheader sweep of Toronto on Sunday in The Bronx, with Fried pitching well in an 11-2 rout in the first game and Judge hitting a go-ahead homer in a 5-1 victory in the second game.

Max Fried reacts after going up a run to the Toronto Blue Jays in the first inning at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York, USA, Sunday, April 27, 2025.

Fried delivered yet another terrific outing and the Yankees won for the sixth time in the left-hander’s six starts this season. He has yet to allow more than two runs in an outing.

It helped that Toronto right-hander Kevin Gausman imploded in a six-run third.

Clarke Schmidt followed with his best outing since returning from right shoulder tendinitis. He limited Toronto to one run — on one hit — in five innings. The only blemish was Anthony Santander’s homer in the third, as Schmidt pitched around four walks.

But the Yankees got a leadoff home run from Trent Grisham in the first and then Judge’s shot to start the sixth.

It was Judge’s eighth homer of the season and first in nine games, an opposite-field shot to right off Chris Bassitt, who had retired 10 in a row entering the inning.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Jasson Domínguez added RBI hits later in the inning to provide insurance, while four Yankee relievers followed Schmidt and shut down Toronto — including Luke Weaver, who tossed a scoreless ninth in his first appearance after replacing Devin Williams as closer.

The afternoon got off to a good start for the Yankees, as they took command in the bottom of the third of the first game.

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (99) singles during the fourth inning when the New York Yankees played the Toronto Blue Jays Sunday, April 27, 2025 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, NY.

Trailing 1-0 entering the inning, they drew five walks against Gausman and got a three-run double from Austin Wells.

The 11-run outburst was the most they scored since putting up 12 runs against the Brewers on March 30.

Fried wasn’t as crisp as his previous outing, when he flirted with a no-hitter against the Rays, but he allowed just one run in six innings, as his ERA actually ticked up to 1.43.

New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells (28) 3-run double during the third inning.

The lefty has been everything the Yankees could ask for since signing a seven-year, $218 million deal as their Juan Soto consolation prize.

“I think there’s an inning every start that he gets through and then rolls after that,” Wells said. “That’s why he’s had so much success. That’s why he’s here.”

Wells noted Fried has been “better” than his already high expectations.

“Getting to call games for him, it’s a fun back-and-forth,’’ Wells said.

On Sunday, Fried had to get through the first two innings before he locked in and shut down the Blue Jays.

Jasson Domínguez (24) scores and leaps out of the way on a New York Yankees third base Oswaldo Cabrera (95) double during the fifth inning.

The Yankees offense came alive in the third, as Gausman walked Oswaldo Cabrera and Ben Rice with one out in the third to bring up Judge.

Judge ripped a shot off the wall in right, but Cabrera misread it and had to stop at third.

With the bases loaded, Cody Bellinger — showing signs of heating up at the plate — hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Cabrera and tie the game at 1-1.

A two-out walk by Paul Goldschmidt got Chisholm to the plate with the bases loaded.

Chisholm walked on four pitches to give the Yankees the lead.

Anthony Volpe fell behind 0-2, but fought back to draw another run-scoring walk.

Wells, after also fighting back from 0-2 to a full count, hammered a bases-clearing double to make it 6-1 and end Gausman’s day.

“Everyone dialed into the zone,” Wells said. “That turned into a lot of at-bats.”

Gausman needed just 18 pitches in cruising through the first two innings, but threw 53 in the third and didn’t get out of the inning.

The Yankees had just two hits in their six-run third and Gausman was ejected by home plate umpire Chris Conroy as Toronto manager John Schneider was on his way to remove him from the game.

It was Gausman’s shortest outing in over a year, as the Yankees knocked him out in the second inning of a start on April 6, 2024.

Schneider was also tossed in the top of the fifth during a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at-bat for arguing balls and strikes.