CHICAGO -- Max Fried walked off the mound to a standing ovation from the visitors’ dugout Saturday night.
Five and one-third innings. Two hits. One run. Seven strikeouts. It should have been enough.
Lately, it rarely has been.
The Yankees’ rotation continues to pitch at a level that should be carrying the club up the American League standings. Instead, another strong outing disappeared beneath an offense that has struggled to find traction for more than a month, as New York dropped a 5-2 decision to the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
The loss followed a script that has become increasingly familiar.
The Yankees received another good start. They briefly grabbed a lead. Then, with little margin for error, the game slipped away.
“Max was great,” manager Aaron Boone said. “After the first inning, he really got dialed in and settled in. To get us into the sixth there on the pitch count was big. We just couldn’t finish it off.”
That’s becoming the frustrating part.
Over the Yankees’ past five games, their starters have allowed just two earned runs.
Gerrit Cole tossed six scoreless innings. Cam Schlittler followed with 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball. Ryan Weathers fired seven scoreless. Will Warren authored the longest scoreless outing of his career Friday afternoon.
Then Fried added another gem.
The Yankees are 2-3 in those games.
“It’s baseball,” Fried said. “There are going to be times where guys are throwing really well and maybe the bats aren’t putting up as many runs as we need. Then there are going to be times where we’re going to score five, six, seven, eight, nine runs and we’re giving up some, too. It’s about being a good baseball team and picking each other up.”
That hasn’t happened often enough lately.
Since June 26, the Yankees are averaging just 3.5 runs per game while batting .201 as a club. They’ve scored two runs or fewer 13 times over that 31-game stretch, and they entered Saturday owning the lowest batting average in the Majors with runners in scoring position since June 8.
With Monday’s 6 p.m. ET Trade Deadline looming less than 48 hours away, the need for offensive reinforcement has become increasingly difficult to ignore.
“We probably had 10-plus baserunners tonight,” Boone said. “Those are little signs, hopefully, for the offense getting things going a little bit. But obviously, we need to keep doing a little bit more.”
Against Cubs left-hander David Peterson, opportunities again proved fleeting.
The Yankees managed just one hit through four innings before scratching across the tying run in the fifth with a pair of softly hit singles. Spencer Jones later appeared to provide the breakthrough, lining a Statcast-projected 106 mph opposite-field homer that barely cleared the left-field wall despite the wind blowing hard toward home plate.
It was Jones’ third homer in seven games since being recalled from Triple-A Scranton on July 26, and it briefly gave New York a 2-1 lead.
The lead didn’t even survive one batter.
Nico Hoerner answered with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the seventh before the Cubs reclaimed the lead later in the inning after Jasson Domínguez misplayed a ball near the right-field corner, allowing Pete Crow-Armstrong to race to third with a go-ahead triple. Seiya Suzuki followed with an RBI single.
Because that’s the reality the Yankees have been living in lately. When runs are difficult to manufacture, every defensive mistake feels amplified.
“We don’t have a lot of margin for error when you’re not putting a lot of points on the board,” Boone said.
Domínguez didn’t hide from the pivotal play.
“Tough play,” he said. “I was trying to get close to the wall to stop the ball, and it kicked the other way. Definitely a tough play for us and for the game.”
The frustration was evident throughout the clubhouse.
“We’ve been grinding, trying to find a way over there,” Domínguez said.
Lost beneath the offensive struggles was another encouraging step from Fried, who was making just his third start since returning from a bone bruise in his left elbow.
Fried retired 16 of the final 18 hitters he faced, throwing 54 strikes among his 78 pitches before departing with one out in the sixth.
“I’ve been feeling a lot better,” Fried said. “The more I get out there, the sharper and crisper I’ve been getting. When I can be on the attack and not worry about what my mechanics are doing, I’m focused on competing. It’s a lot better for me out there.”
For the Yankees, that’s another encouraging development. Now they just need enough offense to make it matter. And with every lackluster offensive performance, it appears more likely they’ll attempt to add a bat before the Deadline.