Aaron Boone Faces Heat From Fans After His Decision to Pull Max Fried Leads to Yankees Losing Game 1 of Wild Card Series Against Red Sox

After Max Fried was pulled out from the game by Aaron Boone, the New York Yankees immediately conceded two runs and ended up losing 3-1.

Aaron Boone Faces Heat From Fans After His Decision to Pull Max Fried Leads to Yankees Losing Game 1 of Wild Card Series Against Red Sox

Aaron Boone and Max Fried (Image via Imago/MLB)

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Aaron Boone once again found himself on the receiving end of extreme backlash on Tuesday. The manager was highly criticized by the fans after his decision to pull Max Fried after a dominant performance led to the New York Yankees losing Game 1 of the Wild Card Series against the Boston Red Sox.

After finishing 2nd in the American League East due to the Toronto Blue Jays holding the tiebreaker, the Yankees got matched up against their arch rivals, the Red Sox in the best-of-three wild card series.

The two teams would send out their ace pitchers, Max Fried and Garrett Crochet, for Game 1. Anthony Volpe opened the scoring for the Yankees with a solo home run off Crochet in the 2nd inning.

Fried, on the other hand, kept on dominating the Red Sox batters. The southpaw threw 6 scoreless innings and was looking for 1st postseason win with the Yankees.

After he threw 6.1 innings, Aaron Boone would take him out of the game. The pitcher, who reached a pitch count of 102 after retiring Jarren Duran in the 7th inning, was relieved by Luke Weaver. Fried ended the day giving up 4 hits and picking up 6 strikeouts.

As soon as he was taken off the mound, the Red Sox came roaring back in the game. After getting a 0-2 count, Weaver would lose Ceddane Rafaela on an 11-pitch at-bat by walking him. Nick Sogard would then hit a double, which saw Rafaela reach third base.

Masataka Yoshida would then hit a single to center field, which allowed the two runners to score and give the Red Sox a 2-1 lead. Weaver was unable to retire any batter and was then replaced.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora, meanwhile, stuck with Crochet. The starting pitcher repaid the faith of his manager and threw 117 pitches. He would exit the game after throwing 7.2 innings and picking up 11 strikeouts.

Alex Bregman extended the Yankees’ lead to 3-1 in the 9th inning. Aroldis Chapman, who came in to replace Crochet, would work out a bases-loaded no-out jam to take his team over the line and give them a 1-0 lead in the Wild Card Series.

Social media thrashes Aaron Boone for taking off Max Fried

Aaron Boone‘s decision to take out Max Fried while he was dominating from the mound proved to be a huge one for the New York Yankees. As soon as he left the game, the Boston Red Sox found a way to get back in the game while attacking Luke Weaver.

Aaron Boone and Max Fried
Aaron Boone and Max Fried (Image via Imago/Marca)

The relief pitcher ended up taking the loss as he gave up 2 runs in the top of the 7th inning without retiring any batters. His showing wasted the performance of Fried.

Fans on social media were not happy with this. Many took a shot at Boone for this decision. One displeased on X wrote that Boone had “dismantled” the team with this decision. Check out some of the fan reactions below:

Had Fried stayed in the game, things could have turned out differently for the Bronx Bombers. The pressure will more heavier on Boone now as the Yankees’ 2025 season is now on the line.

Max Fried claims he had lot in the “tank” after being pulled from Game 1 against Red Sox by Aaron Boone

After a dominating regular season with the New York Yankees, Max Fried seemed to be on the way to his first postseason win in the pinstripes. After throwing 102 pitches, manager Aaron Boone took him out, which had massive consequences on the game. Following the game, the pitcher claimed that he had lot in the “tank” and was ready to go deep.

Max Fried and Aaron Boone
Max Fried and Aaron Boone (Image via Yahoo Sports/Imago)

Fried did have to work out two-on-and-two-out jams in both the top of the fourth and the fifth inning. This saw his pitch count rise. After he managed to get the speedy Nate Eaton to groundout on the first base, the ball was taken away from him by Boone.

While speaking to the reporters, the 31-year-old admitted that he exerted a lot of pressure to get out of those innings.

I definitely exerted a lot of energy trying to get out of that, but I definitely had enough in the tank for whatever the team needed.

Max Fried told the reporters

The Yankees are now on the brink of elimination. A loss on Tuesday could bring an end to the campaign and leave the Bronx Bombers empty handed once again.

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