Diamondbacks beat Yankees 3-2 for 2-game sweep
PHOENIX (AP) — Ketel Marte homered, Merrill Kelly won his first start against the Yankees and Arizona beat New York 3-2 Wednesday to sweep a two-game series.
New York dropped to 0-5 this year against teams that currently have winning records and is 17-7 against clubs that started the day under .500. New York had won nine of 10 heading into the series against the Diamondbacks but wound up heading home 6-3 on its western swing.
Kelly (3-2) allowed one run and five hits in 5 1/3 innings as Arizona won for the seventh time in nine games. The 30-year-old rookie right-hander won consecutive big league starts for the first time.
He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fifth when Brett Gardner hit an inning-ending groundout, then gave up Luke Voit’s ninth homer leading off the sixth that cut Arizona’s lead to 3-1. Voit has reached base in 41 consecutive games, the longest for the Yankees since Mark Teixeira in 2010.
Gleyber Torres doubled with one out, and Yoshihisa Hirano relieved and threw a called third strike past Mike Tauchman and then retired Gio Urshela on a popout. Urshela started for the first time since he was hit by a pitch on the left hand Sunday.
Tauchman hit an RBI single in the eighth off Archie Bradley, who got Urshela to hit into an inning-ending forceout. Greg Holland pitched around Cameron Maybin’s one-out walk in the ninth to remain perfect in seven save chances.
Masahiro Tanaka (2-3) allowed three runs and five hits in four innings, which matched his season low. He threw more splitters and got 11 swings and misses among 74 pitches, up from one swing and miss in his previous start, a loss to the Los Angeles Angels.
Arizona took a 2-0 lead in the second when Christian Walker singled, Marte doubled into the left-field corner, Nick Ahmed blooped an RBI single and Tanaka threw a run-scoring wild pitch.
Marte led off the fourth with his seventh homer, a drive above the pool deck in right field.
FIRST PITCH
Bob Brenly, who managed the Diamondbacks to their World Series title in 2001 in seven games over the Yankees, threw Wednesday’s ceremonial first pitch. Brenly is now a commentator on Diamondbacks’ TV broadcasts.
TOSSED
Yankees manager Aaron Boone was ejected by plate umpire Paul Emmel, his second ejection of the season. Boone was angered when he challenged whether Ahmed remained on second base on a force play was denied in a fifth-inning video review. He didn’t have a challenge available in the seventh when he thought Tyler Wade was hit by a pitch. Boone has been ejected twice this season and six times as Yankees manager.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Yankees: SS Troy Tulowitzki singled in the first inning for Class A Tampa, then was removed for a pinch runner. Tulowitzki was hit on a leg by a pitch Tuesday night. … INF DJ LeMahieu missed the series with knee inflammation. He fouled a pitch off a knee Friday at San Francisco, then left Sunday’s game against the Giants in the third inning. … OF Clint Frazier (left ankle sprain) did some pregame work in the outfield and can be activated from the IL this week. … OF Aaron Hicks (back) was the DH in an extended spring training intrasquad game. He singled in three at-bats and walked twice, and is to play five innings in center field on Thursday.
UP NEXT
Yankees: LHP James Paxton (3-2) starts Friday night’s homestand opener against Minnesota and will be pitching on six days’ rest.
Diamondbacks: LHP Robbie Ray (1-1, 4.18 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday at Colorado.
