Yankees lose to Diamondbacks as Nolan Arenado hits grand slam

George Lombard Jr., left, and Spencer Jones hit long home runs... — George Lombard Jr., left, and Spencer Jones hit long home runs in the third inning on Sunday as the Yankees took a 4-1 lead over the Diamondbacks in an eventual 8-4 loss Credit: AP/Caitlin O'Hara

By The Associated PressSeptember 20, 2026 7:59 pm

PHOENIX — The Yankees' chances of winning the AL East title were reduced to nearly zero on Sunday . . . not that they were all that good to begin with.

The Tampa Bay Rays entered Sunday with a magic number of four to eliminate the Yankees from contention for first place. That became three when the Rays beat the Red Sox, and it dropped to two when the Yankees lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 8-4.

The Rays (95-60) lead the Yankees (89-66) by six games with seven to play. The two teams will play four games in the Bronx this week, including a split doubleheader on Tuesday. If the Rays win that first game — or any game in the series — the race is over. The Yankees must win all four games to stay alive, and a sweep also would give them the tiebreaker in the season series, 7-6.

The Yankees are scheduled to start lefthanders Carlos Rodon (6-3, 2.95 ERA) and Max Fried (5-4, 2.63) on Tuesday against the Rays, who will counter with righthanders Nick Martinez (15-4, 2.94) and Drew Rasmussen (15-5, 2.72). Gerrit Cole and Cam Schlittler are slated to pitch Wednesday and Thursday for the Yankees.

The Yankees did reduce their magic number to clinch the first wild card — and home-field advantage in the Wild Card Round — to one over the Red Sox, whom they seem likely to play in that round for the second straight season.

The Yankees managed only three hits in the final 6 1/3 innings after hitting three no-doubt home runs off Corbin Burnes in the third inning — 388 feet to left by Heliot Ramos (107.6-mph exit velocity), 424 to left by George Lombard Jr. (108.7) and 448 to center by Spencer Jones (109.8) — for a 4-1 lead, but Arizona's Nolan Arenado capped a five-run fifth with a two-out grand slam off Brent Headrick.

Yankees starter Will Warren retired Tim Tawa to begin the fifth, but Lars Nootbaar doubled, Ketel Marte singled and Gabriel Moreno walked to load the bases. Headrick replaced Warren and struck out Geraldo Perdomo for the second out, but he walked Corbin Carroll to force in a run. One pitch after Arenado's bid for a grand slam went just foul, he gave the Diamondbacks a 6-4 lead with a blast to leftfield.

Perdomo had a run-scoring single in the first and an RBI triple in the seventh as Arizona recorded its MLB-best 47th comeback victory of the season.