After the D-backs pulled Zack Greinke from the game and traded him, the Yankees hitters jump all over Arizona's bullpen en route to a 7-5 win. >> Box score
Five takeaways from Wednesday's game
1) Prior to the game, righty Masahiro Tanaka revealed that he made some changes to his grip. That came after he imploded in his last start against the Red Sox, posting 12 earned runs on 12 hits (two homers) over 3.1 innings. On Wednesday, Tanaka still struggled. Tanaka only notched four innings on the mound, exiting the game in the fifth inning with runners on and 82 pitches thrown. Tanaka allowed two earned runs and five hits with three walks. He also struck out four batters.
2) While the Yankees were still playing, the D-backs dealt their starter, Greinke, to the Houston Astros. While he did allow a home run, Greinke only allowed two total hits and had seven strikeouts in five innings. After 82 pitches, he was taken out of the game as trade talks were heating up and the Yankees jumped on the D-backs bullpen for five runs.
3) While Tanaka struggled, the Yankees bullpen held the D-backs down the stretch. Chad Green replaced Tanaka and only allowed one run in the fifth. Tommy Kahnle and Adam Ottavino pitched the sixth and seventh, respectively, allowing no runs and striking out two apiece. Zack Britton had a scoreless eighth inning and Aroldis Chapman notched the save in relief eventually after a bit of a scare. However, Nestor Cortes Jr. did throw two pitches in the final inning, allowing a home run, before Chapman replaced him. A small hiccup.
4) Gio Urshela could've had what was a game-saving play defensively. The D-backs loaded the bases against Tanaka in the fourth inning. With two outs, Tim Locastro smacked a shot toward the hot corner which could've cleared the bases, but Urshela made an impressive backhanded grab and calmly made the throw from third to first base for the final out. In the final inning, Urshela also made another impressive play, ranging into foul territory, he fielded a Wilmer Flores grounder and made the throw across his body to first base in time for the out.
5) Earlier in the game, the Yanks only briefly jumped on Greinke when Urshela doubled and Mike Tauchman, who's on a seven-game hitting streak, knocked a two-run homer in the second inning. A much different story against the Diamondbacks bullpen.
In the seventh inning, Tauchman doubled and Austin Romine hit a two-run home run on the first pitch he saw. The ensuing inning the Yankees added three more insurance runs. Aaron Judge and Edwin Encarnacion singled to start the rally and Judge scored on a Didi Gregorius ground out. Gleyber Torres then doubled, scoring Encarnacion, and Torres later scored the final Yankees' run on a Cameron Maybin single.
Highlights
Oppo Tauch-o. pic.twitter.com/wefFuUFPiG
- New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 31, 2019
What's next
The Yankees will get an off day tomorrow as they prepare for some payback against the Red Sox, who come to the Bronx on Friday for a weekend series.