Monday night marked the first game of a seven-game road trip for the Yankees, and it all began with a nightmare of an opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field in a 12-2 loss.
Chad Green made his major league debut on the mound for the Yankees, and was pitching just fine until a three-run home run by Jake Lamb in the fifth inning spoiled the evening. Lamb’s blast to right-center field broke a 2-2 tie, giving the D-Backs a 5-2 lead en route to a 12-2 victory over New York.
Arizona’s Robbie Ray pitched seven innings of two-run ball, scattering six hits while striking out six Yankees in the process.
Aaron Hicks had two deep fly-outs to the warning track, one to center (4th inning) and one to left (6th inning) before ripping a single up the middle in the ninth. The 4th inning fly-out proved productive as it advanced Beltran to third and Headley to second with just one out. Three hard-hit balls on the night could be a sign Hicks is seeing the ball better after a 2-for-30 (.067) start to the 2016 campaign.
With the loss, the Yankees fall to 4-11 on the road this season, the third-worst road mark in MLB behind Minnesota (4-17) and Cincinnati (3-13).
THE PLAY: Jake Lamb’s 3-run home run to make it 5-2 in the fifth (+.205 WPA)
TOP PERFORMERS
Yankees: Mark Teixeira (3-for-4, 1 run scored)
D-Backs: Robbie Ray (7 IP, 6 hits, 2 earned runs, 6 Ks, 1 BB)
NOTES
– Didi Gregorius went 1-for-4 with an error in his Arizona homecoming after playing 183 games for the D-Backs between 2013–14.
– Chad Green’s final line in his debut: 4 IP, 8 hits, 6 runs (4 earned), 5 Ks, 1 BB, 2 home runs; 79 pitchers, 46 strikes
– Paul Goldschmidt officially welcomed Green to the bigs with a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning, his eighth of the season.
THE HIGHLIGHT: Ellsbury’s triple + error to score and tie it at 2-2
UP NEXT
Tuesday night’s game two match-up features Michael Pineda (1-4, 6.28) against Zack Greinke (3-3, 5.26) in a battle of two under-performing pitchers. Greinke is 2-4 with a 5.92 ERA in 12 career games against the Yankees, his worst mark against any major league team. Meanwhile, the Yankees will once again be in dire need of offense after scoring just three runs in their last three road games.
Photo: Joe Camporeale / USA Today Sports; Video: MLBAM