New York Yankees

After losing the first two games of the series, the New York Yankees avoided a sweep by the D-Backs in Phoenix.  

  • New York Yankees: 4 (17-22)
  • Arizona Diamondbacks: 2 (19-24)
  • Interleague, FINAL, Box Score
  • Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ
Nathan Eovaldi absolutely dazzled for the New York Yankees as he set the tone in what would be a 4-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

After surrendering a double to Jean Segura in the bottom of the first, Eovaldi sent down the next 18 batters he faced. In total, he went six innings of one-run ball and struck out five compared to zero walks.

Take away the double, and Nasty Nate has himself flirting with yet another perfect game. On the season, Eovaldi is now 4-2 with a 4.44 ERA and has won three out of his last four outings.

The Yankees wasted no time getting on the board as Brett Gardner took a low Shelby Miller pitch and cranked it over the wall in right to give the Bombers a 2-0 lead, which was more than enough. It was Gardner’s fifth home run of the season and he finished the day 2-for-5 with two RBI.

The next run did not come until the top of the sixth inning when the Yankees channeled some National League abilities by manufacturing runs with the pitcher in the lineup.

After Chase Headley reached on a single, Eovaldi bunted him over to second base which brought up Jacoby Ellsbury with two outs and a runner in scoring position.

Ellsbury slapped one the other way for a base hit and Headley scored from second to give New York a much-needed insurance run. The Yankee center fielder went 3-for-3 with two walks, an RBI, and a run scored.

After Eovaldi got out of the sixth inning unscathed, manager Joe Girardi questionably went to his “three-headed monster” to finish off the contest.

Although they did the job, Dellin Betances did it with 31 pitches and Andrew Miller surrendered a home run to Chris Owings but they were able to hand to ball over to Aroldis Chapman to close out a huge 4-2 victory for the New York Yankees.


Off The Mark:

Last year, Mark Teixeira was in Most Valuable Player discussions. Today, he is not hitting his weight and is currently in a 108-game home run drought and finished tonight’s contest 0-for-5 with three strikeouts.

His last long ball came back on April 13th in a 7-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre. This is the longest Teixeira has gone without a home run.

A-Rod Update:

We discovered last night that his return from the DL was going to be delayed and prior to today’s game, manager Joe Girardi said that the best case scenario will call for Alex Rodriguez’s return to be Saturday in Oakland.

The main concern for Girardi is if A-Rod can run at full speed. Today, the 40-year old slugger jogged very lightly in the outfield but did not necessarily give the Yankees any hope at an early return.

What’s Next:

The Yankees will play their final game of this West Coast trip at the Coliseum against the Oakland Athletics. Ivan Nova will take the hill against Kendall Graveman.

Nova has pitched well in two starts since rejoining the rotation thanks in large part to the usage of his sinker. In the 10.1 innings pitched against the Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox, Nova has maintained a 1.74 ERA.

In eight total appearances, he has a 3.70 ERA with a 4.4 K/9 ratio and has made a case to remain in the rotation when CC Sabathia Returns from his groin injury.

Graveman has surrendered at least four earned runs his last four outings and in the past two, he has given up five home runs. The last time he won a ballgame was against these Yankees on April 20th.

In that outing, Graveman struck out eight batters while only surrendering one run in 6.1 innings of work. Complete coverage will begin on the YES Network at nine followed by first pitch coming at around 10:05 PM ET from Oakland.

NEXT: How Can Michael Pineda Resurrect His Season?