And there was rain… New York rain.

Yesterday, there was no game. Today, a 51 minute delay, but there was a game.

For 3 hours and 2 minutes we sat out in the rain. Before the game, at least we were able to have friendly conversation with Ed Alstrom, the Yankees organist of the day. That chat and the free food in the Stadium suites was more enjoyable than sitting in the rain and watching this game.

My hair got wet, my bag got wet, all its contents got soaked. And the game was a damp squib.

By the time the game started at around 2.30pm, there were real concerns that the starting pitchers might have lost their momentum, or over-prepared. It didn’t really work out like that but for a little while it looked like it might.

Right at the very top of the first, Yankees starter Carlos Rodon went into a complete meltdown. He gave up a single to left to Gabriel Moreno, and then a second to centre to Corbin Carroll. Centrefielder Estevan Florial messed up the fielding play, and the runners advanced to second and third on the error.

Seeking to exploit Florial’s resultant nervousness, Tommy Pham hit a fly ball in his general direction. This time, Florial fielded it cleanly, but the sac fly brought Moreno home and moved Carroll up to third.

Christian Walker followed that with another sacrifice fly, but this time to Oswald Cabrera in right. This meant the basepaths were clear, but the Yankees were two down with two outs. A third out followed with Lourdes Gurriel jr. lining out to Isiah Kiner Falefa who was playing in left today. With the season almost over, the Yankees had chosen this weakened outfield allignment, with Aaron Judge switching to designated hitter leaving no room at all for Giancarlo Stanton.

The Yankees’ response in the bottom half of the inning saw DJ LeMahieu (1B) lead off with a single, but there were no further hits allowing Zac Gallen to settle nicely into his day on the mound.

However, surprisingly, Rodon settled his jitters too, and it was to be the 7th inning before there was to be any more scoring. In the top of that inning, Rodon gave up three singles amongst the first four batters he faced. With only one out (Gurriel jr.), Evan Longoria hit a 2 RBI single, and with the game at four-zero, it was time for Randy Vasquez to replace Rodon.

And then there was another dark time. The Diamondbacks brought on a pinch runner, Jake McCarthy for Longoria and Vasquez never really settled. Kiner-Falefa was the second outfielder to make a fielding error. This put Jordon Lawlar on first, and McCarthy moved up to second. The clearly rattled pitcher then threw a wild pitch which move the runners up to scoring positions. He then walked Alek Thomas before Perdomo hit a sacrifice to IKF. 5-0

In the 8th, a Corbin Carroll double was followed by a single from Pham. Christian Walker’s 5-3 grounder allowed sufficient time for Carroll to cross home-plate.

There was a glimmer of light in the bottom of the eighth for the Yankees in the bottom of the eighth. A ground-rule double from Judge off Kevin Ginkel, gave the crowd reason for hope. The inning also produced walks for LeMahieu and Austin Wells, but crucially no runs.

The Arizona club were in no mood to sacrifice anything from their advantage, and indeed continued to look to expand it. In the 9th, Vazquez walked Perdomo, and then gave up a double to Moreno. By this time, the Yankees had reshuffled their outfield options. and it was rightfield substitute Jake Bauers who returned this to the mound. Cabrera had moved over to the left. The Diamondbacks advanced their score to seven.

The Yankees finally removed Vasquez, and it was Zach McAllister who retired the Diamondbacks’ inning. The bottom of the ninth was a strange one. Bauers hit a double but when Cabrera followed him with another double, peculiarly he only moved up to third. After a LeMahieu walk loaded the bases, it was a walk gifted to Judge which finally provided the Yankees with a run. It was too little, too late.

The game finished 7-1 on a Gleyber Torres popout.

It is clear that many of these players in the pinstripes are approaching their final game in the Bronx. Tomorrow brings the final game at the Stadium for this season. The roster needs to be majorly strengthed before a game that counts is played here again.