Yankees Struggle with Strikeouts in 4-3 Loss to Diamondbacks

The New York Yankees fell 4-3 to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night, continuing their struggles at the plate.

The Yankees struck out a total of 16 times in the game, with Aaron Judge contributing three strikeouts.

New York has now struck out 30 times in the first two games of the series, after sweeping the Milwaukee Brewers to open the season.

The Yankees' offense faced an uphill battle against Arizona's pitching staff, especially Zac Gallen.

Gallen delivered a dominant performance, tying his career-high with 13 strikeouts.

He extended his scoreless streak against the Yankees to 18 2/3 innings.

The right-hander allowed just three hits and no walks over seven innings, improving his record to 3-0 against New York.

His knuckle-curve was especially effective, as he racked up 10 strikeouts with that pitch.

Before his home run, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had gone 34 at-bats without a hit against the Yankees dating back to August 2022.

Gurriel broke that slump early, hitting a two-run homer off Carlos Rodón in the first inning.

Rodón, who struggled in the early going, allowed four runs, three hits, and four walks in the first two innings.

He settled down and threw four hitless innings after that rough start.

Rodón also took a hard hit in the fifth inning, when Ketel Marte blasted a 115.5 mph line drive off his left forearm.

Despite the impact, Rodón recovered and threw Marte out at first base.

Arizona added to their lead in the second inning with a sacrifice fly from Geraldo Perdomo and an RBI single by Marte.

Marte later made a strong defensive play in the sixth, where he fell while fielding a ground ball from Cody Bellinger, but still managed to throw to second for a forceout.

Soon after, Arizona announced that Marte had signed a contract extension guaranteeing $116.5 million through 2031.

Despite the strong pitching from Gallen and early struggles from Rodón, the Yankees didn't go down without a fight.

In the ninth inning, Anthony Volpe hit a three-run home run to make it a one-run game.

A.J. Puk, who had saved the game the night before, came in to retire Austin Wells on a foulout and strike out Jasson Domínguez for his second save in as many nights.

The Yankees will look to bounce back in Thursday's series finale.

Carlos Carrasco (0-0) will start for New York, while Merrill Kelly (1-0) will take the mound for Arizona.