Max Fried's gem lifts Yankees despite Judge's hitless opener - ESPN

SAN FRANCISCO — The 2026 Major League Baseball season began Wednesday night at Oracle Park with a lot of nontraditional pageantry — people dancing on taxi cabs on one side, cable cars on the other — but once the game started, the surprises ended.

The New York Yankees, with a familiar but formidable lineup, scored five runs in the second inning and drafted behind starting pitcher Max Fried to open the season with a 7-0 win over the Giants. Beyond that, there wasn't much to recommend from a game that marked the debut of Giants manager Tony Vitello.

Much of the offseason conversation regarding the Yankees centered on their lack of activity in the trade and free-agent market. While division rivals Toronto and Baltimore were active in upgrading their rosters, the Yankees returned 24 of the 26 players who finished last season with an AL Divisional Series loss to the Blue Jays. For one night, though, the Yankees scored one for continuity.

The Yankees, who led baseball with 274 homers last season, had nine singles and just one extra-base hit, an RBI triple by Trent Grisham in the second. Aaron Judge, the back-to-back AL MVP, was the only Yankee who didn't reach base, and he struck out four times.

«This team led the league in runs scored last year, and we have a lot of the same guys back,» Fried said. «One through nine can beat you.»

Fried, who led baseball with 19 wins last season, got his first of this season by tossing 6⅓ innings and allowing just two hits. The Giants got a runner to third base just once, in a choppy first inning that saw Fried walk leadoff hitter Luis Arraez, a man stubbornly resistant to walks, and allow a single to Rafael Devers. From that point, Fried allowed just two more baserunners.

«It's really a