NEW YORK (AP) — Max Fried will come off the injured list ahead of schedule Wednesday to pitch for the New York Yankees in the second game of their day-night doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The ace left-hander has been sidelined since May 14 because of a left elbow bone bruise and had been lined up to make a second minor league rehab start Wednesday. But after Tuesday's game was postponed because of a poor weather forecast, the Yankees announced Gerrit Cole to start the opener of Wednesday's twinbill and slated Fried for Game 2.
“That sets us up from a starting standpoint in Philadelphia and beyond,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, looking ahead to his team's weekend series. “Max was way on board with it. I think it makes a ton of sense and we can continue to build him this way.”
A three-time All-Star, Fried is 4-3 with a 3.21 ERA in 10 starts for New York this season. He tossed three innings last Friday in a rehab outing for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre against Worcester, allowing two runs and five hits with three strikeouts and no walks. He threw 52 pitches, 32 for strikes.
The next day, Boone said Fried would make at least one more rehab start in the minors before rejoining the big league rotation.
But the Yankees' plans changed when Tuesday night's scheduled game against the Pirates was postponed in the afternoon because of a rainy forecast and set to be made up as part of New York’s second doubleheader in a four-day span.
The regularly scheduled game begins at 1:05 p.m. and the makeup at 7:05 p.m.
“He’s ready to go. He’s been ready for a while,” Boone said. “It’s just about getting him built up. So, obviously, he doesn’t have a full clip yet.”
Will Warren had been slated to start Tuesday night against fellow right-hander Bubba Chandler and the Pirates. The Yankees are off Thursday, and Warren will start Friday night's series opener at Philadelphia and be followed Saturday by Cam Schlittler.
New York split a day-night doubleheader Sunday against the Los Angeles Dodgers after a rainout Saturday night.
Chandler will pitch the nightcap Wednesday after Mitch Keller starts Game 1 for Pittsburgh. The Pirates are also off Thursday before a home series against the Chicago Cubs.
The 32-year-old Fried went 19-5 with a 2.86 ERA over 32 starts in 2025, his first season with the Yankees after leaving Atlanta as a free agent to sign a $218 million, eight-year contract with New York in December 2024.
Cole returned to the Yankees on May 22 following reconstructive elbow surgery and the doubleheader marks the first time they are in the rotation at the same time.
“We have high hopes this year,” Boone said. “Those are two of the big reasons why and hopefully we’ve got a good run in us with them right in the middle of it.”
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New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Friday, July 17, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
New York Yankees' Cody Bellinger, center left, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. (13) celebrate after Chisholm's home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning of a baseball game, Monday, July 20, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Two members of the Iranian women’s soccer team who claimed asylum in Australia have confirmed their pivotal refusal to sing the national anthem during the Women’s Asian Cup in March was a protest against Tehran.
The first media interview with Atefeh Ramezanisadeh, 34, and Fatemeh Pasandideh, 22, since they abandoned their team to become refugees was broadcast Sunday on Australia’s “60 Minutes” current affairs program.
"We just wanted to stand with our people. I was scared at times, but I just tried to do what was right and say that no one should be killed just for protesting,” Ramezanisadeh told Nine Network through an interpreter.
The team was criticized in Iran and branded as traitors in the media there for remaining silent when the Iranian national anthem was played ahead of their opening loss against South Korea on March 2.
Some saw it as an act of resistance, while others interpreted it as a show of mourning following the U.S. and Israeli attacks on their homeland which began on Feb. 28. The team offered no public explanation.
The gesture led to demonstrators demanding the team be offered asylum in Australia before leaving Sydney on March 10.
Ramezanisadeh and Pasandideh said they were protesting Tehran’s brutal crackdown on nationwide demonstrations against Iran’s theocratic rule.
Ramezanisadeh said her silence “could have meant any form of torture” for her.
“But at that moment, the only thing that gave me peace and a clear conscience was not singing it. I wanted to sing the anthem with pride and from my heart. But because of the situation in Iran, I really couldn’t do it,” she said.
Pasandideh said through an interpreter of her own silence: “My people put their lives on the line and they were killed. Doing that was the absolute least we could do for them.”
Australian Immigration Minister Tony Burke said none of the team had been offered asylum at that time.
“At that point, they had absolutely no information from us about the possibility of being able to stay,” Burke said.
“The silence of itself was deeply significant,” he said. “The reaction was the volcanic moment.”
The stakes were raised when U.S. President Donald Trump used social media to call for the team to be granted asylum and telephoned Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the issue.
Albanese told Trump that four players and a team manager had at that stage accepted offers of humanitarian visas.
Seven members of the team eventually accepted Australia’s offer of asylum, but all soon changed their minds except for Ramezanisadeh and Pasandideh. They both now play for the Wynnum Wolves semi-professional soccer team in the city of Brisbane and were made Australian citizens in August.
Ramezanisadeh said her parents had asked her to return under the instructions of Iranian authorities.
“They tried to reassure me, saying: ‘Nothing will happen to you. This is your home. You must return home.’ But I told them my mind was made up and I was not coming back,” Ramezanisadeh said.
“Thinking that I might never be able to see my family again was heartbreaking, but I couldn’t allow myself to be indifferent while so many young people were being killed by this regime. I couldn’t stay silent, even though I miss my family so much,” she added.
Both women said they had not been in contact with their families in recent months, but understood relatives had not been punished.
Pasandideh said she had never asked her teammates whether they had wanted to return to Iran or had been forced to.
“We decided not to talk because I don’t want to put their lives in danger,” Pasandideh said.
“One of my biggest dreams is to be able to go back to Iran, but in different circumstances when the situation in Iran has changed and the people of Iran are happy and thriving. Then I will go back and see my family,” she added.
FILE - Fatemeh Pasandideh, left, and Atefeh Ramezanisadeh, right, former members of the Iranian women's soccer team, stand with Australia's Minister for Home Affairs, Tony Burke, after receiving their citizenship in Brisbane, Australia, on Aug. 5, 2026. (Department of Home Affairs via AP, File)
