This time, the torpedo came close — but not close enough.
The Yankees’ offense, silent against Arizona right-hander Zac Gallen, came alive in the bottom of the ninth, capped by Anthony Volpe’s three-run blast with one out off A.J. Puk.
But they fell just short, as Austin Wells popped out and Jasson Dominguez struck out to end the 4-3 defeat, their second in a row after winning their first three.
Gallen limited the Yankees to three hits over 6 ⅔ shutout innings and the Diamondbacks knocked Carlos Rodon around for the first two innings before the lefty settled down.
For Rodon and the Yankees, his excellent last four innings weren’t enough to overcome his rocky start, when he allowed four runs in the first two innings.
And the Yankees were silent until the bottom of the ninth, when Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge opened with base hits.
But Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s fly ball to right died in the wind before Volpe gave the Yankees some hope.
The big blow for Arizona came just three batters into the game, as Lourdes Gurriel Jr. slammed a two-run homer in the top of the first.
The blast reached the second deck in left off an 0-2 four-seam fastball. And it came after a leadoff walk to Ketel Marte, fresh off a six-year, $116 million extension.
Rodon’s struggles didn’t end there.
He issued a walk to start the second, this time to Eugenio Suarez.
The lefty then walked off the mound after falling behind the next batter, Gabriel Moreno, 2-0.
Rodon couldn’t handle Moreno’s comeback later in the at-bat and it went for a single.
The runners advanced on a Jake McCarthy groundout and Arizona took a 3-0 lead on Geraldo Perdomo’s sacrifice fly to center.
A base hit up the middle by Marte scored Moreno to make it 4-0.
