Logo

PHOENIX — The Yankees are coming home in style.

They had to work overtime before they could board their flight back to New York, but the Yankees finished off a strong season-opening road trip with a resilient effort Wednesday afternoon.

After taking the lead in the top of the 10th then seeing it evaporate, the Yankees came back to score two more runs in the 11th, and this time it stuck for a 6-5 win over the Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

“That was just an all-around great win,” Aaron Judge said.


  Yankees designated hitter Aaron Judge (right) celebrates with teammate Anthony Volpe after hitting a two run home run. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con Yankees designated hitter Aaron Judge (right) celebrates with teammate Anthony Volpe after hitting a two run home run. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con

The Yankees scored the go-ahead run on a balk in the 11th then Judge drove in what proved to be the winning run with an RBI double to the gap after homering earlier in the day.

Caleb Ferguson left the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th to end it, striking out reliever Scott McGough (the Diamondbacks had lost their DH an inning earlier) to improve the Yankees to 6-1, tied for the second-best start in franchise history.

“In the grand scheme of things, a week doesn’t really do too much when it’s a whole 162 games,” said Alex Verdugo, who crushed a two-run shot in the 10th inning for his first home run as a Yankee. “But to start off this week like this and to keep the momentum going is huge. Everybody in here knows we’re talented, knows what we can do.

“You just gotta go out there every day and have that dawg mentality. It’s not going to always come easy. You got to sometimes fight and I think we’ve been doing a really good job of that this whole run.”

Verdugo jumped on Kevin Ginkel’s first pitch of the 10th inning and stared it down as it flew out, flipping his bat before trotting around the bases.

The Arizona native, who had plenty of family and friends in attendance, picked a clutch spot for his first home run as a Yankee.

Up until that point, he was just 3-for-24 with no extra-base hits on the young season, though he had made his impact felt defensively and with a go-ahead sacrifice fly on Opening Day.


  Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodon against the Arizona Diamondbacks. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodon against the Arizona Diamondbacks. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con

“I wish he would have taken some time to admire it a little bit,” manager Aaron Boone joked. “I think it meant a lot. He’s had such an impactful trip for us.”

The Yankees were barking when Verdugo got back to the dugout, a nod to their new left fielder who has repeatedly said they are made up of a lot of “dawgs.”

The Diamondbacks tied it up in the bottom of the 10th against Clay Holmes, who allowed a pair of unearned runs to score after a throwing error by Anthony Volpe.


  Anthony Rizzo #48 of the New York Yankees makes a catch at first base for an out against Tucker Barnhart #16 of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Getty Images Anthony Rizzo #48 of the New York Yankees makes a catch at first base for an out against Tucker Barnhart #16 of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Getty Images

But the Yankees answered again in the 11th, a fitting end to a trip in which they made a habit of coming back in games.

Judge snapped an 18-inning scoreless streak for the Yankees by crushing his first home run of the season in the fourth inning, a two-run shot off right-hander Merrill Kelly.

At the time, it put the Yankees ahead 2-1.

Carlos Rodon was solid in his second start of the season, giving up a pair of solo home runs across 5 ¹/₃ innings.

Of the 95 pitches he threw, he mixed in 13 cutters and got four of his seven whiffs on the pitch to help keep the Diamondbacks off-balance.

The left-hander got some help keeping the game tied in the fifth inning when he picked off Corbin Carroll, who was trying to steal third on him.

The Yankees had called for an inside pickoff move, and right after Rodon fired to third to nab Carroll, he pointed to the dugout for the good tip.

“Right now, we’re getting the results,” Judge said. “We just gotta keep doing this at home. It’s only two series into the year, but we still got a lot of work to do.”

Comments
anonymous profile image
Powered by RoundtableBuilt on infrastructure designed for real-time media. Learn more at RTB.io.© Roundtable 2026. By using this site you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy