The Yankees won the battle Saturday night, but they may well lose the war if Max Fried keeps pitching like this.

ST. LOUIS — You could see the frustration in Max Fried ’s facial expressions, hear it in his voice. Mixed in was a lot of relief. This time, his Yankees teammates bailed him out.

For so much of the season, Max Fried had been brilliant. The New York Yankees signed Fried this offseason to help helm their rotation with Gerrit Cole, and once Cole sustained a season-ending elbow injury, this became fully Fried's show.