The Yankees suffered their second consecutive loss on Wednesday, falling to Arizona, 4-3, on a chilly night in the Bronx.
The Diamondbacks sunk their fangs into Carlos Rodón’s velocity-lacking fastball early, most notably when Lourdes Gurriel Jr. crushed a two-run homer in the first inning. The second-deck shot put the Yankees in a quick hole.
The ditch only deepened in the second inning when Geraldo Perdomo produced a sac fly. Ketel Marte, who agreed to a six-year, $116 million extension before the game, then added an RBI single off Rodón’s heater, which only averaged 93 mph for the evening.
Rodón didn’t have his best stuff on Wednesday, and he occasionally looked at his throwing hand and the mound as he struggled with his command. However, the lefty settled in after the second inning — even after taking a 115.5-mph Marte line drive off his forearm in the fifth — not allowing any additional runs. He also retired the last 10 batters he faced.
Rodón, making use of five different pitches for the second straight start after a dominant Opening Day outing, totaled three hits, four earned runs, four walks and five strikeouts over six innings. He also threw 96 pitches.
Carlos Rodon has set down each of the last 10 hitters he’s faced pic.twitter.com/eRS8jEaJEA
— Fireside Yankees (@FiresideYankees) April 3, 2025
Arizona starter Zac Gallen, meanwhile, looked crisp from the get-go against the Yankees’ partially-torpedoed lineup.
The Somerdale, New Jersey native spun the ball beautifully over 6.2 scoreless innings, tying a career-high with 13 strikeouts. Gallen also held the Yankees to three hits and didn’t issue a walk over 101 pitches.
The righty’s knuckle-curve did the Yankees especially dirty, as Gallen’s breaking ball induced 13 whiffs on 30 pitches. Gallen tallied 24 whiffs overall as the Yankees swung at 36% of the pitches that he threw outside of the strike zone.
Zac Gallen’s 13 Strikeouts. #torpedoed pic.twitter.com/3ZoDA0p4Xc
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 3, 2025
The Yankees struck out a few more times after Gallen’s departure, logging 16 in the game. It’s been a breezy series for the Bombers, as they struck out another 14 times in Tuesday’s loss.
Still, the Yankees managed to make things interesting in the ninth inning, as Anthony Volpe smacked a three-run homer — his fourth bomb and hit of the season — off Arizona lefty A.J. Puk to cut the deficit to one. However, the Yankees failed to complete the comeback.
With their first series loss of the season in the books, the Yankees will try for a win on Thursday before embarking on their first road trip, which will take them to Pittsburgh and Detroit.
Carlos Carrasco is scheduled to make his first start in pinstripes on Thursday after winning a spot in the Yankees’ injured rotation as a non-roster invitee this spring. The veteran right-hander allowed three earned runs over two innings in relief on March 29.
Merrill Kelly will start the series finale for the D-backs as they look to slither out of New York with a three-game sweep.
