The Yankees waited until the very last breath to show signs of life on Wednesday night, but Anthony Volpe’s three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth was more of a whisper than a roar. It cut into a 4–0 Arizona Diamondbacks lead and made things look a bit more respectable in the box score—but make no mistake, the Bombers were thoroughly outplayed for most of the night.
The 4–3 loss marks their second consecutive defeat, and the way it unfolded leaves more questions than comfort.
Carlos Rodón Stumbles Early, Then Settles In
Left-hander Carlos Rodón, who is supposed to be the co-anchor of this rotation alongside Max Fried, gave up four earned runs in the first two innings. The Diamondbacks pounced early, forcing Rodón into long counts and taking advantage of location mistakes. He allowed four walks on the night but managed to settle down after the early chaos.
Rodón finished with six innings, five strikeouts, and did enough to keep the game within reach—but when your team hasn’t scored a single run through eight innings, “keeping it close” doesn’t mean much.
Yoendrys Gomez Continues His Scoreless Streak
If there’s a silver lining, it’s Yoendrys Gomez. The 24-year-old righty came in for the final three innings and blanked Arizona’s lineup despite walking three. He now stretches his scoreless streak from spring training into the regular season, which should earn him even more trust in long relief. He isn’t lighting up radar guns, but his poise and ability to work out of jams continues to be impressive.
Zac Gallen Carves Up the Lineup
This game was all about Arizona’s ace, Zac Gallen. The right-hander sliced and diced through the Yankees’ lineup like a chef with a new set of knives. He struck out 13 batters over 6.2 innings, with the Yankees looking helpless against his fastball-curveball combo.
Aaron Judge struck out three times. Paul Goldschmidt added two. Jasson Dominguez and Ben Rice each wore the hat trick as well. The bottom third of the lineup—Dominguez, Rice, and Oswaldo Cabrera—combined for eight strikeouts. That’s not a pothole, that’s a crater.
Looking Ahead to Thursday
The Yankees totaled just six hits and 16 strikeouts on the night. The late-inning theatrics by Volpe gave the crowd something to cheer about, but it was far too late to rescue a performance that was off-key from the start.
They’ll look to stop the bleeding Thursday with Carlos Carrasco on the mound against Arizona’s Merrill Kelly. If New York wants to avoid a sweep and keep pace with early-season expectations, they’ll need to flip the script—and fast.