NEW YORK — The Yankees’ hot start to the season has been all about power.
But on Tuesday night, it was the Arizona Diamondbacks who delivered a back-breaking blast.
Eugenio Suárez’s eighth-inning grand slam against reliever Mark Leiter Jr. proved to be the game-winner in the D-Backs’ 7-5 victory in the Bronx, dealing the Yankees (3-1) their first loss of the year.
The home run was the fifth of the season for Suárez, who broke a tie with the Yankees’ Aaron Judge for the major league lead.
The Yankees were leading, 4-3, when Leiter entered with one on and one out in the top of the eighth, and he promptly walked the first two batters he faced. He nearly worked out of the jam, striking out Josh Naylor for the second out before working Suarez to a 2-2 count.
But Leiter hung a splitter, and Suárez – the reigning National League Player of the Week – got just enough to deposit it into the front row of the left-field stands, giving Arizona a 7-4 lead.
The go-ahead slam capped a five-run eighth inning for Arizona and spoiled a strong start by Yankees rookie Will Warren, who had been in line for his first MLB win.
The Yankees’ bullpen was shorthanded Tuesday with closer Devin Williams on paternity leave. Luke Weaver, who typically pitches high-leverage set-up innings, was in line to pitch the ninth.
The Yankees garnered national attention over the weekend for their innovative “torpedo” bats, which feature elongated barrels to help hitters make hard contact more regularly. Five Yankees homered using a torpedo bat during their season-opening sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Yankees hit three more home runs on Tuesday – including one by Anthony Volpe, a torpedo-bat user – giving them 18 on the season. That set an MLB record for the most through a team’s first four games.
But that wasn’t enough to keep the Yankees out of the loss column.
Nor was it the best start of Warren’s young MLB career. He limited the Diamondbacks to two runs on one hit over five innings, during which he outpitched new Arizona ace Corbin Burnes, who was making his team debut.
Warren, the Yankees’ No. 2 pitching prospect, made his MLB debut last season but struggled to an 0-3 record and a 10.32 ERA over six appearances, including five starts.
He was pressed into the Yankees’ season-opening rotation due to a rash of injuries, including to ace Gerrit Cole, who underwent season-ending elbow surgery last month, and Luis Gil, who is expected to miss at least two more months with a high-grade lat strain.
Warren retired Arizona’s first eight batters Tuesday, but a four-pitch walk to No. 9 hitter Geraldo Perdomo proved costly. Corbin Carroll followed up that free pass with a two-run home run, giving the D-Backs a 2-0 lead in the third inning.
Jasson Domínguez, who still wields a traditional bat, answered in the bottom of the third with his first home run of the season, cutting the Yankees’ deficit to 2-1.
Volpe then struck his third home run of the year in the fourth inning, tying the game, 2-2.
Later in the fourth, Burnes had a chance to strand runners on second and third, and he got Oswaldo Cabrera to hit a routine grounder to the first baseman Naylor. But Naylor tossed the ball over Burnes’ head as he covered first, allowing for both runners to score.
Burnes, who spent last season with the Baltimore Orioles, allowed four runs (two earned) over 4 1/3 innings in his first start since joining Arizona on a six-year, $210 million contract.
The score remained 4-2 until Yankees reliever Tim Hill surrendered an RBI single to Perdomo in the eighth inning before giving way to Leiter.
The Yankees’ Ben Rice clubbed a solo home run in the ninth inning to cap the scoring.
“That’s Life” by Frank Sinatra played after the loss – the Yankees’ first since they ...
