Max Fried gem leads Yankees to shutout win over Rays after no-hitter controversy

Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.TAMPA — Max Fried had his no-hitter lost for him before he could lose it for himself.The left-hander ultimately delivered a terrific performance across 7 ²/₃ innings that propelled the Yankees to a 4-0 win over the Rays on Sunday afternoon at Steinbrenner Field, but it became marred in controversy by a scoring change that was announced just minutes before the first live hit.As Fried jogged out to the mound for the bottom of the eighth seemingly working on a no-hit bid through seven innings, the official scorer, Bill Matthews, announced that Chandler Simpson was being credited with the Rays’ first hit from two innings earlier.In the bottom of the sixth, Simpson had hit a ground ball off of first base that Paul Goldschmidt could not field cleanly.

The speedy Simpson busted it down the line and may have beat Fried there had Goldschmidt handled it — though Fried beat him on a similar play in the third inning — and the play was initially scored an error on Goldschmidt.After reviewing the play multiple times, though, Matthews announced in the middle of the eighth inning the change from an error to a hit.The decision ultimately became moot minutes later, when Jake Mangum led off the bottom of the eighth with a line-drive single to center field.Fried received a standing ovation after Mangum’s hit, with the sellout crowd of 10,046 acknowledging that as the end of his no-hit bid instead of it officially ending in the sixth.Regardless, Fried put together yet another outstanding outing that allowed the Yankees (14-8) to take three of four from the Rays (9-13) and bounce back from a crushing loss Saturday.Officially, Fried allowed just two hits, two walks and one hit batter while striking out two on 102 pitches.The scoring change and Mangum’s hit in the eighth may have taken a difficult decision out of the Yankees’ hands,...