Photo via New York Post

Yankees fall to Diamondbacks in walk-off loss as AL East hopes shrink

Read the original at New York Post ↗
Cite

Joyce, G. (2026, September 20). Yankees fall to Diamondbacks in walk-off loss as AL East hopes shrink. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/09/19/sports/yankees-walked-off-by-diamondbacks-as-al-east-hopes-shrink/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-09-20 · by Greg Joyce

Quick Summary

On Saturday night, the New York Yankees suffered a 5-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a walk-off defeat that included a two-run homer by Pavin Smith. The game took place at Chase Field with an attendance of 47,918 fans celebrating the Diamondbacks' 2001 World Series team anniversary. This loss narrowed the Yankees’ lead over the Tampa Bay Rays to five games for first place in the AL East and increased their wild card gap from the Boston Red Sox to 5½ games with eight games remaining in the regular season.
Written by AI on 2026-09-20, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On Saturday night in Phoenix, the Arizona Diamondbacks celebrated their 2001 World Series victory over the Yankees, only to provide another painful memory for New York by winning a critical game. In the bottom of the ninth inning, pinch hitter Pavin Smith hit a two-run home run off Michael Fulmer, securing a 5-3 victory and sending the Yankees to their eleventh walk-off loss this season. The Diamondbacks' triumph narrowed their gap from the final NL wild card spot by four games with seven left in the regular season, while the Yankees fell further behind the leading Tampa Bay Rays (89-65), now five games ahead of them for first place in the AL East.

Written for “Yankees Loss Shrinks Playoff Hopes” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Yankees Loss Shrinks Playoff Hopes
Sports · 3 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 6% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Toronto Star
Hedges 4 of 24 claims Outlet record 64/100
Toronto Star
Hedges 1 of 15 claims Outlet record 64/100
Toronto Star
Hedges 0 of 15 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles describe different parts of the same game, with one focusing on a walk-off loss and the other on Nolan Arenado's grand slam earlier in the game.”
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 7 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different games and outcomes for the Yankees on separate dates.”
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 13 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe a game between the Diamondbacks and Yankees, but focus on different aspects of it: one emphasizes the walk-off loss in the ninth inning, while the other focuses on an earlier grand slam that changed the course of the game.”
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 4 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different games and situations for the Yankees, one about strategic decisions for the wild card roster and another about a recent loss to the Diamondbacks.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
17
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
6%
1 of 17 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
3
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-20 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 15761 article(s) · 35 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 35 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Greg Joyce
60 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Except in practical terms for the Yankees, it will be crammed into the next month before the sport is expected to shut down because of a lockout.
🔮 Whether the two will finally match up again to allow him to be any kind of contributor for the Yankees in 2027, though, remains very much in question, setting up a $15 million decision. Access the Yankees beat like never before Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees. Try it freeAfter three separate calf strains sidelined him for five-plus months and relegated him to a pair of pinch-hit at-bats in October, the soon-to-be 37-year-old DH entered the offseason healthy.
🔮 Pitching coach Matt Blake and the team are in the midst of negotiating a new contract and moving toward a deal, The Post’s Joel Sherman reported Friday, which would ensure that the Yankees hang on to one of the best at his job in the game.
🔮 Some Yankees bosses may have been irked by Aaron Judge questioning whether they have gone all in enough, but Hal Steinbrenner insists he was not one of them.
🔮 After another disappointing playoff exit, Boone is coming back for a 10th season as manager next year, with Cashman also expected to return for his 30th season as general manager on a new contract.
🔮 The current president of baseball operations for the Mets was the top decision-maker for the Brewers (as general manager and then president of baseball operations) from September 2015 through October 2022, then spent the following year in an advisory role to ownership before landing in Queens. Access the Mets beat like never before Don’t miss Mike Puma’s text messages from Queens and beyond — he’s giving Sports+ subscribers the inside buzz on the Mets. Sign up NowDuring that time, through amateur drafts, international signings and trades, Stearns helped build the foundation of the roster that just swept the Dodgers in the NLCS and will play in the organization’s first World Series in 44 years.
🔮 Boone also dropped Spencer Jones — the Yankees cleanup hitter in each of the prior three playoff games — down to batting eighth in the lineup, the lowest he has hit against a right-hander since May 19 (facing Dylan Cease).
🔮 He may have more talent and tools than almost any other player on the roster, most notably his speed, athleticism and power, but the Yankees have not been able to get that out of him regularly enough, especially this year.
🔮 McMahon has not brought much offensively and then committed a fielding error on the first ball put in play in the bottom of the first inning on Saturday night at Tropicana Field, the first of four the Yankees would make in Game 2.
🔮 “So there would’ve been a right-hander I would have used at some point had we gotten runners on base, but by the time he was in the game it was 5-1.
Also by Greg Joyce
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 60 articles by Greg Joyce →

Topics

Diamondbacks PHOENIX Rays Yankees the World Series

Subjects

Yankees ORG · 12× Diamondbacks ORG · 6× Schlittler PERSON · 6× Rays ORG · 2× Greg Joyce PERSON · 1× Luis Gonzalez PERSON · 1× Mariano Rivera PERSON · 1× New York GPE · 1× PHOENIX GPE · 1× Post Sports+ for ORG · 1×

Narrative

Try it freeBut it was a walk-off in the bottom of the ninth, with Pavin Smith belting a two-run shot off Michael Fulmer to sink the Yankees in a 5-3 loss to the Diamondbacks on Saturday night in front of 47,918 nostalgic fans at Chase Field. Three hours before first pitch here, multiple Yankees sat in the visiting clubhouse tuned into the Rays and Red Sox game with vested interest in the two teams surrounding them in the standings.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-20
🔮 Geraldo Perdomo followed with another bunt to the left of the mound, and this time Ryan McMahon could not get a clean handle on it, loading the bases with no outs.
2026-09-20 · New York Post
Yankees fall to Diamondbacks in walk-off loss as AL East hopes shrink · assertive framing

Claims (17 extracted, 1 hedged)

PHOENIX — On a night that began with the Diamondbacks honoring the 25th anniversary of their 2001 team that won the World Series against the Yankees, they paid tribute again a few hours later to deliver some more nightmares back in New York. asserted
they → begin → York
It was by no means Luis Gonzalez versus Mariano Rivera, nor a bloop over a drawn-in infield. asserted
It → draw → infield
Try it freeBut it was a walk-off in the bottom of the ninth, with Pavin Smith belting a two-run shot off Michael Fulmer to sink the Yankees in a 5-3 loss to the Diamondbacks on Saturday night in front of 47,918 nostalgic fans at Chase Field. Three hours before first pitch here, multiple Yankees sat in the visiting clubhouse tuned into the Rays and Red Sox game with vested interest in the two teams surrounding them in the standings. asserted
Yankees → try → standings
The Rays eventually walked off with a 2-1 win, meaning they moved five games ahead of the Yankees (89-65) for first place in the American League East with eight games to play, while the Yankees remained 5 ¹/₂ games clear of the Red Sox for the top AL wild card. asserted
Yankees → walk → card
Likely AL Cy Young Award winner Cam Schlittler gave up more than one run for the first time since Aug. 3, with the Diamondbacks scratching across three runs against him — two of them unearned — across six innings. asserted
Diamondbacks → give → innings
Two bunts and a brief lack of command opened the door just enough for the Diamondbacks to get to him, though Schlittler still finished the night with a 1.94 ERA across 190 ²/₃ innings this season, with one more start remaining in the regular season. asserted
start → open → season
The Yankees had a prime chance to break a scoreless game open in the top of the fifth inning, when they loaded the bases with one out against Diamondbacks right-hander Brandon Pfaadt. asserted
they → have → Pfaadt
- CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS But manager Torey Lovullo, in a sign of how desperate his club is in trying to stay alive in the National League wild-card race, went to the bullpen for hard-throwing righty Justin Martinez. asserted
club → check → Martinez
The move worked, as Martinez limited the damage to just a sacrifice fly from Ben Rice, which put the Yankees ahead 1-0 before Cody Bellinger flew out to end the threat. asserted
Bellinger → work → threat
The only base runner Schlittler had allowed through four innings was a harmless four-pitch walk in the second before Nolan Arenado blooped a broken-bat single with one out in the fifth. asserted
Arenado → allow → fifth
Tim Tawa then laid down a bunt to the left of the mound, which Schlittler tried to field himself but bobbled, never even getting a throw off to first base. asserted
Schlittler → lay → base
Then with two outs, Schlittler got ahead 1-2 on No. 9 hitter Jordan Lawlar before leaving a 99 mph fastball over too much of the plate, as Lawlar smoked it to the gap for a two-run triple that put the Diamondbacks ahead 2-1. asserted
that → get → Diamondbacks
The Yankees had an immediate response in the top of the sixth, as Heliot Ramos and Austin Wells both crushed solo home runs off righty reliever Kevin Ginkel to regain a 3-2 lead. asserted
Ramos → have → lead
But then Schlittler did just about the worst thing possible, walking the first two batters on a combined eight pitches to lead off the bottom of the sixth. asserted
Schlittler → do → sixth
Geraldo Perdomo followed with another bunt to the left of the mound, and this time Ryan McMahon could not get a clean handle on it, loading the bases with no outs. uncertain
McMahon → follow → outs
Corbin Carroll then hit a sacrifice fly that tied the game 3-3, but Schlittler settled down from there, striking out the next two batters to strand a pair of runners in scoring position. asserted
Schlittler → hit → position
Brent Headrick and Paul Blackburn then came on in relief to provide the next six outs to the ninth inning. asserted
Headrick → come → inning
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support