By: Tobey Schulman
Series Recap: Yankees at Diamondbacks
The Yankees followed up their opening four game series sweep over the Astros with a three game midweek series against the defending NL champion Arizona Diamondbacks. Despite great starts from the Diamondbacks rotation in two of the three games, the Yankee offense battled to take the series two games to one.
Luis Gil took the mound for New York in game one, his first start since May of 2022. Gil looked impressive going 4.2 innings, striking out six, and only giving up one hit and run. While Gil walked three batters, he displayed his high velocity fastball that generated a lot of swing and misses.
The Yankees racked up all of their runs in the first three innings of game one. Oswaldo Cabrera stayed hot with an RBI single to get the scoring started in the second. Cabrera wouldn’t stay on the basepaths long, as Gleyber Torres drove him in with an RBI double in the next at bat.
Anthony Volpe stayed hot from his first series as well, going 4-4 with two doubles, and an RBI single in the third that gave New York a 3-0 lead. Austin Wells would follow up Volpe’s single with a sacrifice flyout that scored Alex Verdugo, and Volpe from first off of a wild throw to the plate. The Diamondbacks would get two back, but fall 5-2 in game one. They would turn the ball over to their ace Zac Gallen, as they looked to even the series.
Gallen would turn in a dominant shutout start, going six innings, allowing just three hits while striking out six. The Diamondbacks would score seven in their shutout victory in game two. Christian Walker would record his third home run of the year, and three RBIs out of the seven scored. A game three rubber match between Carlos Rodon and Merrill Kelly was set for Wednesday.
Kelly would put together another solid start for Arizona. He’d go seven innings, giving up five hits, and two runs while striking out four. Rodon would put together a solid start as well. He’d record 5.1 innings pitched, while striking out three, and giving up two runs off of two solo home runs from Blaze Alexander and Ketel Marte.
The Yankees would rally in extra innings to take the series finale. Aaron Judge was crucial for New York the entire game, giving them two runs off of his first home run of the season. Judge would come up again in the 11th, securing the game winning run with an RBI double. The Diamondbacks would fight back all throughout extras, and despite a run in the 11th to cut the lead to 6-5, Clay Holmes would prevail to get the Yankees their second series win.
The Yankees start their season 6-1 after their first road trip. They return to New York for their home opener against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday.