Bullpen Blows It. Arizona 8 NY 4

September 21, 2026 paperbacklou 2026 0
Spencer Jones HR in the 3rd puts NY up 4-1.

Brent Headrick allowed a Grand Slam to Nolan Arenado with 2 outs in the 5th inning to turn a 4-2 Yankee lead into a 6-4 deficit, and John Schreiber allowed 2 more runs in the 7th as the Yankees went down in flames to the Diamondbacks, losing 8-4 on a Sunday afternoon in Arizona.

Will Warren and the Yankees were leading 4-1 heading into the 5th, when Warren allowed a double, single, and walk to load the bases after he had gotten the 1st out of the inning. In came Headrick, who struck out a batter for the 2nd out — before walking in a run and allowing the Grand Slam to Arenado.

Earlier, Heliot Ramos, George Lombard Jr., and Spencer Jones had hit HR’s in the 3rd inning to give NY a 4-1 lead.

“They’ve got a good relief core, obviously. A lot of big arms they run out of there with different skill sets,” said Aaron Boone afterwards about the loss.

“I don’t know I just fell behind,” said Warren about his performance. “It sucks, he’s been a dog for us all year,” added Warren about Headrick. “I don’t know how many appearances that is — 85ish or so and 80 I bet he’s out of there. It sucks but obviously we rely on him and he’s been really good for us all year and he’ll continue to be good.”

NY falls to 89-66, and 6 games back of Tampa with 7 games to go. Boston trails NY by 5.5 games. Arizona improves to 82-74, still 4 back of the final Wild Card spot in the West.

1. Ramos, Lombard, & Jones HR’s Put NY Up 4-1 in 3rd

Arizona desperately needed this game to stay in the race for the Wild Card. They threw Corbin Burnes to the mound, the 31-year-old, 6’3 righthander making his 3rd start of the season, recovering from Tommy John surgery.

The former Milwaukee ace who spent a year with the Orioles (15-9 2.92 in 2024) after the Brewers traded him during his walk year — signed a huge, 6-year, $31M to $36M a year contract with Arizona entering the 2025 season, then blew out his arm after 11 starts (3-2 2.66 in 2025).

Burns walked the first batter of the game — Ben Rice — on 4 pitches, then allowed a single to Cody Bellinger — but then got 3 outs in a row to pitch a shutout 1st. He allowed but a 2-out walk to Austin Wells in the 2nd. But the Yankees POUNDED him in the 3rd.

Burns got the first 2 outs of the inning before Heliot Ramos ripped a 388-foot HR to left center for a 1-1 tie.

Next batter Luis Garcia Jr. singled to left, and then George Lombard Jr. SMOKED one 424 feet to left for a 3-1 game.

Next batter Spencer Jones hit a MISSILE 448 feet to center for a 4-1 Yankee lead. And that was the end of Corbin Burns as he was yanked for reliever R Nelson.

2. Warren Loses It in 5th — Headrick Allows Slam

Will Warren, meanwhile, wasn’t in peak form but was doing OK.

He allowed singles to the first 2 batters of the game, then got a fly out, but allowed an RBI single to Perdomo for a 1-0 Arizona lead in the bottom of the 1st. Warren got Corbin Carroll to hit into a doubleplay to end the inning.

Warren then pitched a shutout 2nd thru 4th inning — in each inning getting the first 2 outs, then allowing a baserunner before getting the final out: working around a 2-out walk in the 2nd, a 2-out single in the 3rd, and a 2-out walk in the 4th.

And then came the 5th. Warren again got the 1st out, but then allowed a double to leftfielder Lars Nootbaar and a single to 2nd baseman Ketel Marte — putting runners on 1st and 3rd with 1 out. Warren walked catcher Gabriel Moreno on 5 pitches and was relieved by Brent Headrick.

Headrick struck out shortstop Geraldo Perdomo for the 2nd out, then went 3-2 on Corbin Carrol before walking him with a pitch outside for a run and a 4-2 game.

Headrick went 2-0 on Nolan Arenado before Arenado hit a 93-MPH fastball for an apparent Grand Slam to left — but JUST FOUL.

PHEW.

But on the next pitch, Headrick threw another 93-MPH fastball and this time Arenado hit it no-doubt-about-it FAIR for a Grand Slam. Arizona 6 NY 4.

3. Arizona Middle Relievers Shut Yanks Down

The Yanks came right back in the top of the 6th off reliever T Clarke with a leadoff single by George Lombard Jr. and 1-out single by Anthony Volpe — but Austin Wells and Jose Caballero both flied out.

Tim Hill pitched a shutout 6th for NY, but B Garcia pitched a 1-2-3 shutout 7th for Arizona.

4. Arizona Puts It Away with 2 Runs Off Schreiber in 7th

The Diamondbacks put the game away in the bottom of the 7th off John Schreiber: a 1-out infield single by Moreno, an RBI triple by Perdomo, and an RBI single by Corbin Carroll made it 8-4 Arizona before Schreiber got 2 groundouts to end the inning.

5. Loaisiga Shuts NY Out for Last 2 Innings

Old friend Jonathan Loaisiga came in for the 8th. Loaisiga has had a big comeback year with Arizona — coming in with a 2.32 ERA in 62 innings pitched. It was explained on the broadcast that Arizona has had him go into a program of heavy lifting to build up his upper body strength — which was the key area that was causing all of his prior injuries. And it has worked — Loaisiga now has muscles on top of muscles and has been pitching without injury and pitching great.

He pitched a 1-2-3 shutout 8th, then allowed a 1-out single to Austin Wells in the 9th, but got a groundball doubleplay for the old ballgame.

Etcetera13

Some good news for NY: Austin Wells remains red hot. He went 2 for 3 with the HR and a walk, and is now slashing 13-31-.186 (.286 OBP). He has been hitting well since coming off the 10-day IL, that he was placed on after having migraine headaches due to his catcher gear. He has changed his gear since then. Wells hit well in August, then went into an 0-20 slump in September but is now 5-15 since then.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401817025

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