MLB

Max Fried's bid for a no-hitter ended on Sunday... due to the official scorer.

Fried was carrying a no-hitter into the bottom of the eighth inning when the official scorer changed a Paul Goldschmidt error in the sixth inning to a hit, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.

It was a bit of a moot point, ultimately—Fried gave up a single to the first hitter he faced in the eighth.

The Yankees' broadcast on the YES Network certainly wasn't thrilled with the ruling, even if it appeared that Chandler Simpson was clearly going to beat Fried to the bag regardless of Goldschmidt's failure to field the ball.

The Yankees went on to win the game 4-0 behind Fried's excellent performance, as he gave up just two hits and two walks in 7.2 innings, striking out two.

All four Yankees' runs came on homers, as Cody Bellinger hit a two-run shot in the sixth, Trent Grisham went yard in the sixth as well and Austin Wells hit a dinger in the ninth.

The 31-year-old Fried has gotten off to an excellent start this season, going 4-0 with a 1.42 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 30 strikeouts in five starts and 31-2 innings. Thus far, the Yankees have to be feeling very good about the eight-year, $218 million deal they signed him to this offseason.

Led by Fried and Aaron Judge (seven homers, 25 RBI, 1.202 OPS), the Yankees have started 14-8 and sit atop the AL East by two games. The rest of the starting rotation has struggled at times, hampered by injuries to Garrett Cole, Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt, but Fried has been as advertised.

Things went fairly well for the New York Yankees and manager Aaron Boone for the majority of Sunday's 4-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Until the top of the eighth inning.

Boone was not happy with a called strike three on slugger Aaron Judge and let the umpire know about it, which cost him the rest of his afternoon. Boone was ejected, and there may have been some carry-over frustration as Judge just missed a home run when a ball hit down the line was called foul:

Judge's long ball appeared to be fair on the video replay, which would have extended the visitors' lead to 4-0.

"The audacity of the call standing is remarkable," Boone told reporters. "It's a home run."

The umpire may have missed the call down the line because the Rays are playing their home games this season in George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida, after Hurricane Milton damaged Tropicana Field. There are fewer seats in the outfield, which may have thrown off the eyelines when making the call.

Fortunately for the Yankees, they had a 3-0 lead in the eighth inning when Boone was ejected.

Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger each launched solo home runs, while starting pitcher Max Fried pitched 7.2 shutout innings. Fried allowed just two hits and struck out two after taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning.

It was exactly the type of performance the Yankees were looking for from their starting pitcher after they lost Saturday's game 10-8 in extra innings. That loss snapped a five-game winning streak, so Sunday was an opportunity to start a new streak.

As for Judge, he hasn't hit a home run since Wednesday's win over the Kansas City Royals. The long ball would have snapped a bit of a drought by his incredible standards, although he still has seven homers on the season.

At least he knows his manager had his back Sunday.

The Philadelphia Phillies celebrated the birthday of the Phillie Phanatic in a unique way on Sunday.

The Phillies wore hats featuring the face of the iconic mascot during their matchup with the Miami Marlins.

2025 marks the second year in a row that Philadelphia's caps have contained an image of the mascot to commemorate its birthday.

The Phanatic first made its debut as the team's mascot in April 1978.

Hats aren't the only way that the team is celebrating the birthday of the mascot. On Sunday, the Phillies presented the Phanatic with a large birthday card and cake before the entire ballpark was invited to sing "Happy Birthday" (via MLB.com).

The mascot has been embraced by fans as well as the players themselves, with two-time National League MVP Bryce Harper wearing accessories featuring the mascot throughout his tenure with the organization.

He also unveiled a tattoo of the Phanatic entering the 2025 season.

After winning the NL East crown in 2024 and advancing to the NLDS, the Phillies are off to a strong start to their 2025 campaign.

Philadelphia owns a record of 13-8, winning four of its past five games and sitting at No. 2 in the early NL East standings.

To hear Ronald Acuña Jr. tell it, there may be some double standards happening on the Atlanta Braves.

Jarred Kelenic's lack of hustle during a play in the sixth inning of Saturday's game against the Minnesota Twins generated plenty of discussion in the aftermath since manager Brian Snitker did not bench him for being thrown out at second base after he admired what he thought would be a home run.

As Foul Territory shared, Acuña said he would have been taken out of the contest even though Kelenic wasn't:

While Atlanta ended up winning 4-3 thanks to a strong performance from its bullpen and a go-ahead RBI single from Alex Verdugo, Kelenic's play was a costly one in the moment since the game was tied at three.

It likely cost the Braves a run at least because Verdugo's single came in the very next at-bat.

There is probably a reason Acuña said what he said.

After all, Snitker benched Acuña during a game in 2019 when he admired what he thought would be a home run, only to settle for a single due to the lack of hustle. He was then thrown out attempting to steal second base in the aftermath of his first mistake.

The outfielder accepted responsibility in 2019 when he told reporters there was "no excuse" for it:

As for Kelenic, it appears he escaped any punishment for his mistake. The Braves revealed their starting lineup for Sunday's contest, and he is starting in right field and hitting eighth. 

Fortunately for the Braves, it hasn't cost them a game in the series against Minnesota. They are going for the sweep in Sunday's contest, which is a welcome change for the National League East team following a 5-13 start to the season.

Part of the issue is that Acuña is yet to play this season as he recovers from his torn ACL that required surgery. It was his second torn ACL, as he also missed time in 2021 because of a torn ACL.