Merrill Kelly Hit Hard, D-backs Fall Short of Comeback vs Yankees

The Arizona Diamondbacks suffered a tough loss on Thursday, falling to the New York Yankees in the Bronx by a score of 9-7. It was a poor start for Merrill Kelly, and Arizona was out-hit 12-8.

Kelly's first start of the season was a solid one, as he went five innings with just one run allowed. On Thursday, however, he fell victim to the Yankees' potent lineup from the outset, and never had a handle on the contest.

Kelly gave up a leadoff double to Ben Rice, although center fielder Alek Thomas lost the ball in the sky, turning a potential flyout into a runner on second base.

A walk to Cody Bellinger followed, before reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge finally got his revenge on the D-backs, ripping a three-run homer to deep right center field. Judge had been held to a mere 1-for-8 with a single and five strikeouts prior to Thursday.

Jasson Dominguez then singled, and a hard-hit ball by Trent Grisham just ricocheted off the glove of Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in left field, leading to another run and a 4-0 Yankees lead through just one inning.

It only worsened from there for Kelly. After managing a scoreless second inning, he was bit by Grisham again in the third, this time for a two-run homer to right.

Judge then singled again to score New York's seventh run, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. lined another homer to right, increasing the Yankees' total to nine runs.

Those nine runs signify the highest earned run total allowed by Kelly in a single outing in his career. He only made it through 3.2 innings, allowing nine hits, three walks, three homers, and only striking out two. His location was poor throughout, and his fastball velocity began to dip below 90 MPH as he labored through a rough start.

He was pulled for right-hander Ryne Nelson in the fourth inning, who pitched 2.1 impressive scoreless innings with just one hit allowed. He struck out Jazz Chisholm Jr. with a fastball just a tick below 98 MPH.

The D-backs' bullpen was sturdy, holding the Yankees to the nine runs given up by Kelly only. After Nelson exited, left-hander Jalen Beeks worked his way out of a jam for a scoreless inning, and Shelby Miller delivered a scoreless eighth to give the offense its final shot at a comeback.

Arizona's offense did do its best to fight back, but the deficit ended up being too large for even one of MLB's most potent offenses to complete another comeback.

In the second inning, Josh Naylor walked and Eugenio Súarez doubled — Suárez's first base hit to not leave the yard this season — moving Naylor to third. Alek Thomas collected an RBI on a groundout.

Arizona managed two more runs off Yankees' starter Carlos Carrasco in the fourth inning, off a Pavin Smith walk, a Naylor single, Lourdes Gurriel Jr.'s RBI double and another RBI groundout by Thomas, pulling within three runs for the first time since the first pitch. Naylor finished his night 2-for-3, with a double, a walk, two runs scored and a stolen base.

But, as the Diamondbacks so often do, a big late inning put the game back within reach. Yankees left-hander Ryan Yarbrough issued two walks to Garrett Hampson and Jose Herrera to open the seventh inning, and Corbin Carroll ripped a single to right field to load the bases for Geraldo Perdomo.

Perdomo quickly took advantage of the short right-field wall, sending one 345 feet for a grand slam, pulling the score to 9-7 and giving Arizona a chance. It was his only base hit of the night.

It was also Perdomo's second career grand slam, and his first ever major league home run from the right-handed batter's box. It was not a Yankee Stadium special, however, as it would have left eight other ballparks — Chase Field not included.

But it wasn't quite enough, as former Diamondback Luke Weaver set down the side in order to close out the ninth inning.

"They're a great baseball team, and they didn't want to lose three games in a row on their home field, and we were feeling like we were going to come out and compete. And we did, and I was proud of the way we did that," said manager Torey Lovullo, speaking to D-backs.TV's Todd Walsh postgame.

"We kept fighting. ... These guys love to compete, and they're never out of the game. You never know where that rally's going to start," Lovullo said.

The Diamondbacks will travel to the nation's capitol on Friday, opening a three-game set with the Washington Nationals at 3:45 p.m. Arizona time.