About Yesterday: Facing The Facts. Diamondbacks 8, Yankees 4

About Yesterday: Facing The Facts. Diamondbacks 8 - Yankees 4

By Tim Kabel

September 21, 2026

***

The Yankees played their last road game of the season yesterday. They lost the game to the Diamondbacks 8-4. They lost the season series to the Diamondbacks two games to one. They split the six-game road trip with the Twins and the Diamondbacks. Oh yes, by the way, the Yankees now trail the first place Tampa Bay Rays by six games. There are seven games left. Four of those games, the next four games on the schedule in fact, are against the Rays. They start things off with a double header on Tuesday.

Before we all yank out our slide rules and Ouija boards and try to claim that the Yankees still have a chance to win the division, they really don't. They have about the same chance that Walter Mondale did to win the presidency in 1984. None. 

Similarly, the Red Sox have no chance to pass the Yankees and be the top Wild Card team. So, next week, unless the world tilts off its axis, the Yankees will be playing the Red Sox in a best of three-game series at Yankee Stadium. That's good news. The Yankees will host the series. We have plenty of time to get into that series.

Let's take a look at yesterday's game.

The Yankees and Will Warren were leading the game 4-1 in the fifth inning. The Yankees had come back from a 1-0 deficit by scoring four runs in the third inning on home runs by Heliot Ramos, George Lombard, Jr. and Spencer Jones. That was the end of the Yankees offense for the day. 

In the fifth inning, with one out, the Diamondbacks loaded the bases off Will Warren. Aaron Boone did what he does almost every single day. He brought in Brent Headrick. Headrick struck out the first batter to face him. He then walked Corbin Carroll, letting in the first run of the inning. The next batter, Nolan Arenado, hit a grand slam to give the Diamondbacks a 6-4 lead. They added two more runs to put the game completely out of reach.

I hate to say I told you so but, I told you so. Aaron Boone's over-reliance on the same relief pitchers almost every day has caused some of them, particularly, Brent Headrick to be worn out. The worst part is that he's worn out just as the Yankees will be entering the playoffs. The same can be said for Tim Hill.  Also, both David Bednar and Paul Blackburn have shown cracks in their armor lately.

All the Rays have to do to clinch the division is win one of the games against the Yankees. They could be swept by the Yankees and still win the division, but let's be realistic. The most likely scenario is that the Yankees will lose one of the two games on Tuesday and that will be that as they say in the Marines.

The Yankees now need to focus on the three-game series against the Red Sox. I will be writing an article tomorrow in which I will focus more on that, but the Yankees cannot count on Aaron Judge for anything more than what he has already done in 2026. I know they are saying that he could conceivably be activated by the last game of the season but the way they have described his injury or not described his injury, makes that extremely unlikely. More importantly it makes it extremely foolish. In the Yankee world, sometimes the foolish thing becomes likely. If Aaron Judge is unable to perform at close to 100% because of his calf injury, what would be the point of putting him in the lineup. He would probably only be able to be the DH which would take either Luis Garcia Jr. or Ben Rice out of the lineup. Now, it is possible that Judge could return deeper in the playoffs if the Yankees advance. Again, that doesn't seem very likely.

I listened to the game on the radio yesterday, which I often do. Dave Sims was going on about how the Yankees still had a chance to win the division. On Saturday, he was talking about how Ryan McMahon could get hot going into the playoffs. That's like me taking a twenty-pound turkey out of the freezer and saying that it could be dinner in two hours. Ice cold is ice cold.

The Yankees have been telling us all season that they were built for the playoffs. Lately. they kept saying that they had a real shot to win the division. Instead, they are going into the playoffs in the Wild Card round with a compromised roster. The Red Sox, a team that at one point trailed the Yankees by 15 games will be their opponent. That’s Baseball, Suzyn.

I have a feeling when we look back at the 2026 New York Yankees and consider all the predictions made by players, coaches, the manager, and the front office as well as some members of the media that this would be the team that won it all, we will consider what actually happened and say in the words of Professor Henry Higgins from My Fair Lady, “It was a silly notion: the whole thing has been a bore.”

A Few Tidbits: 

·       Clarke Schmidt was warming up to come into the game but experienced cramps in his biceps and had to be scratched. I don't know if he is someone who should be placed on the playoff roster.

·       Nolan Arenado’s grand slam was his third of the season, tying him with Houston's Yordan Alvarez for the Major League lead. Arenado is batting 247 for the season with 27 home runs and 78 RBI. In retrospect, he would look a lot better at third base for the Yankees than Ryan McMahon. I was one of the people who advocated not getting Arenado, so I am not trying to claim that I was right. Arenado has proven me and many others wrong. I know some people are saying well, that's just this year. He will be another year older next year. That's true but I guarantee that he'll still be better than Ryan McMahon. Arenado could be retired and be better than Ryan McMahon. 

·       This was the Diamondback’s 47th come-from-behind win of the season, which is the most in the Major Leagues.

·       The Yankees finished the season with a road record of 47- 34, which is second only to the Dodgers.

·       On September 20th, 1968, Mickey Mantle hit the 536th and final home run of his incredible Major League career.

***

After a day off today, the Yankees will open a four-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays with a split double header on Tuesday. The games will start at 1:05 PM and 7:05 PM.