When the Yankees first signed Max Fried to an eight-year, $218 million deal, the plan was for him to be the Robin to Gerrit Cole’s Batman. But Cole underwent Tommy John surgery during spring training,

NEW YORK — Early on this season, the Yankees were practically unbeatable when Max Fried took the mound. That ace version of Fried has been missing in action over these last several weeks, a debilitating trend that continued on Sunday afternoon in the Yankees’ series finale against the Astros.

Jason Alexander took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning and pitched six scoreless innings as the visiting Houston Astros took an early lead on Max Fried en route to a 7-1 victory over the struggling New York Yankees on Sunday afternoon.