The Arizona Diamondbacks needed a clean start to their three-game series against the Yankees. Instead, Friday in Phoenix turned into another rough night, one that left their postseason path even narrower after a 9-2 loss.
Eduardo Rodriguez never settled in. The left-hander was tagged for five runs in the first inning, and even though he found more control as the game moved along and worked into the sixth, the damage had already been done. New York added a few more solo home runs later to stretch the gap beyond reach.
Arizona got a different look on the mound in the seventh, when Zac Gallen made his first career appearance in relief. He covered three innings, struck out two and allowed two runs, though only one was earned.
The Diamondbacks’ offense had its own problems against Gerrit Cole. The Yankees’ ace went through six innings, struck out six and gave up only one real Arizona breakthrough: Corbin Carroll’s two-run homer in the second. That was it for the D-Backs at the plate.
The loss pushed Arizona to five games behind the San Diego Padres for the final National League wild-card spot, with San Diego’s win over the Miami Marlins widening the gap. With only eight games left, the Diamondbacks would have to run the table and stage a historic finish just to be within three games of the final playoff spot when they head to San Diego.
Still, Torey Lovullo wasn’t ready to close the door.
“I’m going to say there’s time. There’s always time and I can’t worry about that,” Lovullo said postgame, according to Diamondbacks on SI.
“Until there’s that little ‘E’ next to our name, I’m going to say we got time. And we can do anything we want.
We just got to play our game first and foremost. That’s step one: play our game, do what we do best and then see what happens.”
The math is brutal, but not dead. FanGraphs still gives Arizona a 5.1% shot at the postseason, a number that keeps shrinking with every Diamondbacks loss and every Padres win.
For now, the club is also carrying a three-game losing streak, and the timing couldn’t be worse. Lovullo has stuck with his belief in this group, but belief only goes so far when the margin keeps disappearing.
With eight games remaining, the Diamondbacks have run out of room for anything less than their best. Friday made that plain. Now they have to show they can still deliver it.
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A weekend tribute to Arizonas 2001 World Series champions gave the Diamondbacks a rare chance to blend past and present in front of a crowd that still remembers the franchises defining October. During the series against the Yankees, Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, the co-MVPs of that championship run, were introduced and even recreated the trophy lift in the same spot where it happened more than two decades ago.
For the current clubhouse, the moment was more than ceremonial. Young reliever Justin Martinez was among the players who spent time around the former champions, and he made it clear how much it meant to be in that setting, especially with a chance to hear from and learn alongside players whose names are woven into team history. For a roster trying to build its own identity, those kinds of weekends can leave a mark well beyond the scoreboard. [Read more 🡒]
Diamondbacks Suddenly Have A September Problem They Can't Ignore
September has a way of exposing everything, and the Diamondbacks got a reminder of that against the Yankees. Eduardo Rodriguez never found a foothold in the first inning, and Arizona spent the rest of the afternoon trying to dig out of an early hole created by a sluggish start on the mound. Even with Corbin Carroll providing a bright spot at the plate with two home runs, the game quickly became more about damage control than a late push.
Zac Gallens unusual relief appearance added another layer to the day, a sign of how much the pitching staff was being stretched in a game Arizona never really steadied. Rodriguez was charged with seven earned runs over 5.1 innings, and the Yankees early lead left little margin for recovery. For a club trying to keep its footing in September, the bigger concern is less about one loss than the pattern it hints at if the rotation and bullpen keep getting asked to absorb this kind of pressure. [Read more 🡒]