Diamondbacks take tough loss against Yankees, cling to Wild Card spot
NEW YORK — Kevin Ginkel was yanking fastballs and missing down with sliders. He was behind in counts. He did not look like the pitcher who had dominated for months, like the reliever whose emergence helped stabilize the Diamondbacks bullpen this season.
Ginkel’s disastrous three-run eighth inning on Monday afternoon opened the door for the Yankees to notch a stinging come-from-behind victory over the Diamondbacks, dealing them a critical 6-4 loss at Yankee Stadium in a game that could come back to bite them in their pursuit of a playoff spot.
With their fellow wild-card hopefuls idle, the Diamondbacks cost themselves a half-game in the standings. At 82-74, they are now tied with the Chicago Cubs for the second of three wild-card spots; the Miami Marlins are a game back of both at 81-75.
In another game played under the windy and drizzly conditions, the Diamondbacks positioned themselves to win on multiple occasions only to watch the Yankees claw back each time, including in the eighth, when Ginkel took over with a one-run lead.
As it turned out, there was a reason he did not look like himself, telling reporters his 28-pitch appearance on Sunday afternoon was a factor in his performance.
“I’ll take accountability for it,” Ginkel said. “I was wanting to pitch; there’s no question about it. I wasn’t feeling great, for sure. After yesterday, I threw quite a few pitches, and then again today. I just didn’t have (my typical) stuff.”
Manager Torey Lovullo, speaking before Ginkel, said he wanted to stick with the bullpen roles that worked so effectively for him in recent months, and seemed to be under the impression Ginkel was not feeling any effects of the previous outing.
“He’s our guy in the eighth inning the whole time,” Lovullo said. “He felt good, he felt strong. I know it was a lot of pitches yesterday, but he was up, available, and I wanted to stay with the process.”
The Yankees opened the inning with a pair of singles, but Lovullo said the five-pitch walk Ginkel then issued to Anthony Volpe was his first sign that his normally reliable reliever, who had not allowed a run in his past eight appearances and had a 1.37 ERA since the start of June, might not be right.
Ginkel rebounded by striking out Oswaldo Cabrera, giving Lovullo hope Ginkel could extricate himself from the jam.
“That’s always a tough read,” Lovullo said of when to pull the plug on a trusted reliever. “It’s always the toughest call from the manager’s seat.”
Lovullo’s decision to stick with him soon backfired. Ginkel walked Oswald Peraza to force home the tying run, then allowed a sacrifice fly to Estevan Florial to give the Yankees their first lead of the day. Moments later, they had a 6-4 lead when Everson Pereira greeted reliever Miguel Castro by singling home another run.
“I’m going to take the ball every single time,” Ginkel said. “I think, physically, I’m reaching a certain point in the season. This is unfamiliar for me. I could have handled myself a little better in some spots. I was definitely sore, but I’m like, you know what, I don’t care. I want to help. I want to deliver for this team.”
With 64 1/3 innings, Ginkel long since blew past his previous career high in innings pitched in the majors. The only year he threw more was as a minor leaguer in 2018, when he logged 70 innings across two levels, then threw another 10 2/3 innings in the fall league.
Monday’s game, of course, was not solely decided in the eighth. Right-hander Merrill Kelly expressed his frustration for not being able to pitch deeper into the game. Lovullo lamented the offense’s inability to tack on runs at points during the game. Reliever Ryan Thompson also gave up a one-run lead, serving up a solo homer to Peraza in the seventh.
In dropping two of three to the Yankees, the Diamondbacks are in a little worse shape than they were when they arrived in New York, but they still appear to be in a good spot when it comes to claiming a wild card, particularly since they have three games coming up against a White Sox team that is threatening to reach 100 losses.
But the Houston Astros, the defending World Series champions, are looming in the final weekend of the season in a series that could well have postseason implications for both teams.
Their schedule might appear tougher than the Marlins, who have the New York Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates remaining, but it is not as tough, at least not on paper, as that of the Cubs, who will face two playoff-bound teams, the Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers, in the final six days.
The Diamondbacks own the tiebreaker over the Cubs but not over the Marlins. If all three teams were to tie, the Marlins and Diamondbacks would advance due to their overall win percentages against each other.
“Any loss is tough, period,” Lovullo said. “Everything is amplified right now. We’ve got to win baseball games. That’s the bottom line.”
Said Kelly: “We’ve got six games left. Our goal is to win all of them, but realistically we’ve got to win a good majority of them. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to come in here and get it done. There were a couple of times today we had a chance to take the series, but we’ve got to flush it and we’ve got to take care of business in Chicago, first and foremost.”
Miguel Castro rejoins Diamondbacks; Ketel Marte update
NEW YORK — Reliever Miguel Castro was reinstated from the paternity list on Monday following the birth of his second child. Right-hander Slade Cecconi was optioned to Triple-A Reno to make room.
Castro has been on a roll out of the Diamondbacks bullpen in recent weeks, riding a scoreless streak of 10 consecutive appearances. He has struck out 12 and walked three over 9 1/3 innings in that stretch.
Second baseman Ketel Marte remained out of the lineup due to illness, but he was back at the ballpark on Monday and said he felt much improved after dealing with a stomach bug on Sunday.
“I’ll be back (in the lineup) tomorrow, for sure,” Marte said.
Diamondbacks at Yankees, 10:05 a.m., Yankee Stadium
Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (12-7, 3.37) vs. Yankees RHP Clarke Schmidt (9-9, 4.65).
Kelly threw well against the Giants last week at Chase Field, giving up one run in 6 2/3 innings in a 7-1 victory. The outing was a rebound from a bumpy start against the Mets in New York, in which he gave up seven runs in five innings. … Kelly has faced the Yankees once in his career, giving up one run in 5 1/3 innings in a start in 2019. He has only pitched against two Yankees hitters -- IF/OF Isiah Kiner-Falefa (0 for 3) and 2B Gleyber Torres (1 for 3) -- in his career. … Schmidt, a 2017 first-round pick out of South Carolina, is in his first full season in the rotation for the Yankees. His ERA has hovered in the 4.00-5.00 range for most of the year. … He has logged six innings in only five of his 30 starts. … Schmidt throws a cutter, sweeper, sinker and curveball with a rare change-up sometimes dropped in, as well.
Coming up
Tuesday: At Chicago, 4:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zach Davies (2-5, 6.81) vs. White Sox RHP Jose Urena (0-6, 7.27).
Wednesday: At Chicago, 11:10 a.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (2-9, 6.08) vs. White Sox TBA.
Thursday: At Chicago, 11:10 a.m., Diamondbacks TBA vs. Touki Toussaint (4-7, 5.10).
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Diamondbacks lose close game to New York Yankees
