Nolan Arenado’s grand slam turns Yankees’ three-homer burst into an 8-4 Diamondbacks win

A lead built on thunder, and not much else

Arizona had the first clean scoring sequence of the afternoon. Lars Nootbaar reached, Ketel Marte moved into scoring position, and Geraldo Perdomo lined a single to center to bring Nootbaar home for a 1-0 lead in the first inning. It was a simple inning on paper, but it set a theme for the Diamondbacks: traffic, pressure, and a willingness to keep the line moving rather than waiting for one swing.

New York answered with nothing but one swing, over and over, in the third. Heliot Ramos tied the game with a solo shot to left-center. George Lombard Jr. followed later in the inning with a two-run drive to left that scored Luis Garcia Jr., and Spencer Jones added another solo homer to center. In one inning, the Yankees went from quiet to 4-1 up, and Corbin Burnes was gone after just 2 2/3 innings, charged with all four runs and all three home runs.

But that burst turned out to be the Yankees’ entire offensive evening. They finished with eight hits and three homers, yet all four runs came in that one frame. They also left 13 runners on base, which is the number that hangs over the box score. Big power covered for a while, but it did not create a durable attack once Arizona’s bullpen took over.

The fifth inning that flipped everything

Arizona’s comeback did not begin with a majestic moment. It began with accumulation. In the fifth, the Diamondbacks filled the bases and forced in a run when Corbin Carroll drew a walk, trimming the score to 4-2. That mattered because it turned the inning from damage control into opportunity, and Nolan Arenado did the rest. His grand slam to left, measured at 381 feet, erased New York’s lead in one stroke and pushed Arizona in front 6-4.

That rally also showed who kept the inning alive. Nootbaar scored twice in the game and went 2-for-3. Gabriel Moreno matched him with two hits, two runs and a walk. Marte added two hits of his own. Arizona did leave 14 runners on base overall and grounded into three double plays, so this was not a perfectly streamlined offensive display. It was, however, a lineup that kept returning to the problem until New York pitching finally gave way.

The Diamondbacks then added the kind of insurance that makes a comeback feel settled rather than temporary. In the seventh, Perdomo tripled to right to score Moreno, and Carroll followed with a single to right that brought Perdomo home for the final 8-4 margin. Perdomo finished with two hits and two RBI, Carroll drove in two, and Arizona’s best offensive work came after it had already absorbed New York’s hardest punch.

Our take: Arizona had the deeper answer

The most convincing part of this Diamondbacks win may not have been Arenado’s grand slam, even if that was the signature image. It was the relief work that followed Burnes’ shaky start. Ryne Nelson, Justin Martinez, Taylor Clarke, Brandyn Garcia and Jonathan Loaisiga combined for 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing only three hits, walking nobody and striking out six. That is how a team survives an early deficit after surrendering three homers in fewer than three innings.

For the Yankees, the lesson is not that the power disappeared; the lesson is that the rest of the offense never really arrived. New York saw 151 pitches, the same total Arizona saw, but once Burnes exited the Yankees managed just three hits and no walks over the final 6 1/3 innings. When a club hits three homers and still leaves 13 on base, the missing piece is usually inning-to-inning continuity. A few more ordinary at-bats in the middle innings would have mattered as much as the early fireworks.

Arizona still has an obvious correction to make. Asking Burnes to survive after three home runs in 2 2/3 innings is a dangerous way to start any game, and it will not always be rescued by a grand slam and a spotless bullpen chain. But as a one-game statement, this was persuasive: the Diamondbacks took New York’s best inning, answered with their own, and then owned everything that came after it.

Scoring moments

1. 1st Inning

   Perdomo singled to center, Nootbaar scored, Marte to third.

2. 3rd Inning

   Ramos homered to left center (388 feet).

3. 3rd Inning

   Lombard Jr. homered to left (424 feet), García Jr. scored.

4. 3rd Inning

   Jones homered to center (448 feet).

5. 5th Inning

   Carroll walked, Nootbaar scored, Moreno to second, Marte to third.

6. 5th Inning

   Arenado homered to left (381 feet), Marte scored, Moreno scored and Carroll scored.

7. 7th Inning

   Perdomo tripled to right, Moreno scored.

8. 7th Inning

   Carroll singled to right, Perdomo scored.