Yankees at Diamondbacks
The Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday afternoon try for a two-game interleague series sweep of the visiting New York Yankees, who haven't lost consecutive games during a 12-4 run. Arizona improved to 2-2 on its five-game homestand with Tuesday's 3-1 victory - its sixth in eight contests - as second baseman Wilmer Flores provided a solo home run and an RBI single.
The Yankees, who enter May with 13 players on the injured list, fell to 6-2 on their nine-game road trip on a night when CC Sabathia became the 17th player and third left-hander in major league history to reach 3,000 strikeouts. New York first baseman Luke Voit, the reigning American League Player of the Week (13-for-30, four HRs, 10 RBIs), reached base for the 40th straight game - the longest active run in the majors - with a walk Tuesday. He is batting .316 with 15 home runs, 41 RBIs, 33 runs and 22 walks during the streak. New York's Masahiro Tanaka threw 89 pitches with only one swing and miss in his last outing while Arizona on Wednesday sends out rookie Merrill Kelly, who has recorded three quality starts in his first five games.
TV: 3:40 p.m. ET, YES (New York), FS Arizona
PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees RH Masahiro Tanaka (2-2, 3.60 ERA) vs. Diamondbacks RH Merrill Kelly (2-2, 3.94)
Tanaka allowed six runs (five earned), six hits (two home runs) and walked three in 5 2/3 innings of an 11-5 loss to the Angels in Anaheim on Thursday. The 30-year-old native of Japan had yielded one earned run in four of his five previous starts with his victories against Baltimore and Kansas City - the two worst teams in the American League. Arizona's Adam Jones is 12-for-32 with three home runs, two doubles and seven RBIs from his days in Baltimore against Tanaka, who has never faced the Diamondbacks.
Kelly permitted two runs on a pair of solo home runs, six hits and two walks while striking out five in seven innings of an 11-2 victory over Pittsburgh on April 24. The 30-year-old Arizona native bounced back after losing his command in a 5-1 loss to the Cubs in Chicago on April 19 when he walked seven in 3 2/3 frames. Kelly, an eighth-round pick by Tampa Bay in 2010, lost 1-0 to Boston on April 7, allowing only a home run to Mitch Moreland with nine strikeouts in eight innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. Arizona 3B Eduardo Escobar, the reigning National League Player of the Week, is batting .382 in his last 21 games after going 3-for-4 with a run scored Tuesday.
2. New York's DJ LeMahieu (knee) did not play Tuesday while fellow INF Gio Urshela (hand) grounded out as a pinch hitter after they were injured Sunday.
3. Flores (.241) is 5-for-10 with five of his seven RBIs in the last four games.