Yanks' offense wastes quality effort from Happ

NEW YORK -- The Yankees have been subject to a well-documented array of injuries this season, and yet, they entered Tuesday with a sizable lead in the American League East through contributions from players who have transformed from Opening Day reserves into household names in the Bronx.

But that wasn't the case in the Yanks' 4-2 loss to the D-backs on Tuesday. Luke Voit left the game in the fifth inning with a core muscle injury, and in came Tyler Wade, who was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre two days ago when left-hander CC Sabathia went on the injured list with right knee inflammation.

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In the sixth inning, Wade stepped to the plate in a critical moment. Down 3-0, the Yankees had received a gift courtesy of Adam Jones, who misplayed a routine fly ball in right field, allowing Aaron Judge to reach second base to lead off the frame. Edwin Encarnación then hit a slicing double to the gap in right-center, and a rally looked to be on for the Yanks.

The next batter would have been Voit, who is hitting .278/.392/.493 with 19 homers and 54 RBIs in 94 games. Instead, there was Wade, who hadn't suited up for New York since May 3. He could do no better than a foul popup, and the Yanks' rally stalled there.

Though Wade hit a solo homer in the eighth -- his first of the year and second of his career -- only he and Encarnacion could produce runs on the night.

"When Edwin drove me in, I'm like, 'Here we go, let's start something now,'" Judge said. "We weren't able to get it done. We've just got to come out strong tomorrow. It felt a little flat today."

The Yankees' offense usually churns like a well-oiled machine, but up and down the lineup Tuesday, New York's batters looked to be running on fumes. They could only manage three hits against rookie starter Taylor Clarke, who came in with an unintimidating 6.10 ERA.

It wasted a quality start from J.A. Happ, who went six innings and allowed three earned runs in a second consecutive encouraging performance for the Yankees' staff, which was hammered hard during New York's 3-4 road trip to Minnesota and Boston.

"We don't like that week obviously, but we don't think it's indicative of who we are as a staff, as a group," Happ said. "I think we win that game tonight more often than not. I just think it wasn't our night."

During that disappointing trip, the Yankees' offense put up 49 runs in an attempt to keep up with the 71 runs the pitching staff allowed. It wouldn't be far off to suggest that workload caught up with them against the D-backs.

"That's why I was pretty upset about this loss," Judge said. "[Happ] went out there against a good offense in Arizona and held them to three runs. We weren't able to get anything going. That's one that eats at me at night, when a pitcher does his job and the team and I didn't step up."

That's a potential side effect of whatever decision the Yankees' front office makes ahead of Wednesday's 4 p.m. ET Trade Deadline. Whether general manager Brian Cashman is able to make a move to bolster the pitching staff, the unpredictability of the group trickles down to the rest of the team.

"I don't think there's any question that sometimes a move can galvanize you ... [but] I don't so much worry about our guys, because I think when they look around at each other in that room, they know what they're capable of with the people in there now," manager Aaron Boone said. "I'm sure to varying degrees they all follow what's going on the best they can, or keep up and hear the rumors and whispers and whatnot, but whatever happens or doesn't happen in the next 24 hours, I don't expect to change our room and what we're truly capable of doing. And I don't think it will."