Yanks Get Walked-Off By The Diamondbacks, Lose 5-3

Andy Singer

2 minutes ago

3 min read

By Andy Singer

September 20th, 2026

The Big Story

With Judge on the IL, the Yankees are right back to not being able to score runs. The Yankees broke through in the 5th and 6th innings on the backs of a Ben Rice sac fly and solo homers by Ramos and Wells, but they were often unable to generate any offense throughout the game. More importantly, the Diamondbacks answered every time the Yankees scored.

Cam Schlittler pitched better than the 3 runs he allowed over 6 innings would indicate, though a fielding error by Schlittler in the 6th inning on a bunt proved to be incredibly costly, as Jordan Lawler made him pay with a 2-run triple on a fastball hung over the middle of the plate.

The Yankees were ultimately knocked out of this one in the bottom of the 9th inning on Pavin Smith's walk-off 2-run homer.

The D'Backs desperately need wins as they try to find a way into the playoffs through a crowded NL field, while the Yankees have all but settled for a Wild Card birth with last night's loss. Clinching the AL East is now just a formality for the Rays.

Schlittler's 4-Seam Fastball

Save for the error and subsequent triple that burned him, Schlittler looked quite good on Saturday night with one exception: he really struggled to spot his 4-seam fastball, and it led to some longer counts. Check it out for yourself:

While he was able to get few at the edges of the strike zone and the tippy top of the zone, he missed wildly above the zone with the pitch for much of the night. Throughout most of the game, Schlittler had an easier time keeping his 2-seam fastball down. Watching it unfold, I couldn't help but think that Schlittler was uncomfortable with something on this batch of baseballs, possibly the seam. Having experienced that, sometimes holding the seams one way leads it to slip off the fingers, but changing the orientation leads to a better grip.

I could also be completely off-base with the above supposition, but either way, Schlittler's struggle to throw strikes with his fastball led to some extended counts.

Missed Opportunities

Stop me if you've heard this before: the Yankees left some meat on the bones out there on offense. None were more egregious than the 5th inning, when the Yankees loaded the bases with 1 out. Predictably, the Yankees got just one run out of it, a Ben Rice sac fly.

Cynically, I said to a friend that I fully expected Rice to roll over a change-up low and away to the 2B to start a double-play. He got a fastball, so he managed to lift it, but my own cynicism surprised me. I love Ben Rice and I think he's a great hitter, but Yankee fans have watched this team squander offensive chances with runners in scoring position for years. It's sad that expecting even good hitters to fail in important spots has become part of Yankee fans' psyche.

Fulmer Pitches Way Off Of Playoff Roster

I had some hope that Michael Fulmer might catch lightning in a bottle when the Yankees grabbed him off of waivers. Fulmer had gotten huge whiff and chase rates on his curveball down at AAA. Sadly, that hasn't translated to success at the big league level. Fulmer just doesn't have enough stuff to come into the strike zone anymore, and he paid for it last night.

Fulmer allowed the game winning walk-off homer on a cutter at the knees that wasn't an awful pitch location. It just didn't break anywhere near enough, nor did it have enough on it to keep Pavin Smith honest, and Fulmer got beat.

I really feel for Fulmer, as I think he's a good pitcher who has been robbed of stuff by father time and a serious collection of arm injuries, but I don't expect Fulmer to pitch in the playoffs for the Yankees, and that's probably a good thing for the team.