Ben Rice and George Lombard Jr. homered and the New York Yankees scored five runs in the first inning to cruise to a 9-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday in Phoenix.
Lombard had two hits and three RBIs, and his two-run single capped the early five-run outburst against Eduardo Rodriguez (15-7), who walked three of the first four he faced.
Rice tripled and walked twice as the Yankees played without Aaron Judge, who will be placed on the injured list Saturday, retroactive to Thursday, with a right calf strain.
Gerrit Cole (9-9) gave up two runs on four hits in six innings. He struck out six, did not issue a walk, and retired 13 of the final 15 he faced after Corbin Carroll’s two-run homer in the second made it 5-2.
Carroll added a double and Geraldo Perdomo and Nolan Arenado had two hits apiece for the D-backs, who have lost five of six as their NL wild-card chances fade.
The D-backs (80-74) are five games behind San Diego, Philadelphia and the Chicago Cubs (all 85-69) for the three NL wild-card spots. The Padres were the only one of the four to win Friday.
The Yankees (89-64) have won four of five and eight of 10.
The Yankees trail Tampa Bay by four games in the AL East, and the teams will meet in a three-game series in Yankee Stadium starting Tuesday. They are 5 1/2 games ahead of Boston for the first AL wild-card spot.
Rodriguez, on pace to post a career-low ERA, gave up five hits and seven runs in 5 1/3 innings, leaving after Lombard’s homer made it 7-2 in the sixth. He struck out five and walked four.
The Yankees forced Rodriguez to use 45 pitches in their big first. Paul Goldschmidt walked to open the game and took third on Cody Bellinger’s single before Heliot Ramos and Rice walked on 3-2 counts to force in the first run.
Amed Rosario followed with an RBI single and Ramos scored on a wild pitch before Lombard capped the inning with a two-run single.
Rice homered to lead off the third, Lombard homered in the sixth, and the Yankees turned an infield single and two Arizona errors into a two-run seventh to close the scoring.