The New York Yankees suffered a tough loss on Saturday night, falling to the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3 on Pavin Smith’s two-run walk-off home run in the ninth inning.
The loss came after the Yankees twice held a lead earlier in the game. New York broke through in the fifth inning when Austin Wells, Anthony Volpe and José Caballero opened the frame with consecutive singles to load the bases. Ben Rice followed with a sacrifice fly that brought home Wells and put the Yankees ahead 1-0.
Arizona answered in the bottom half of the inning, taking a 2-1 lead on Jordan Lawler’s two-run triple. Both runs were unearned against Yankees starter Cam Schlittler, who committed a fielding error on a sacrifice bunt during the inning.
New York responded quickly in the sixth. Heliot Ramos tied the game with a solo home run before Wells put the Yankees back in front with his 13th home run of the season. Both home runs came against Arizona reliever Kevin Ginkel.
Schlittler ran into trouble again in the bottom of the sixth after issuing two walks and allowing a single to load the bases with nobody out. Corbin Carroll tied the game with a sacrifice fly, but Schlittler struck out the next two batters to escape further damage.
Schlittler completed six innings, allowing three runs on three hits with three walks and six strikeouts over 98 pitches. Only one of the three runs was earned, and his season earned-run average dropped to 1.94.
Neither team scored again until the ninth, when Smith ended the game with his two-run homer off Michael Fulmer.
The Yankees will finish the series Sunday at 4:10 p.m. Will Warren will face Corbin Burnes.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to kyle@fingerlakes1.com.