Diamondbacks Stare Down Dangerous Yankees as Playoff Hopes Dwindle

The Diamondbacks, with their playoff hopes on the line, could not manage to engineer series wins over the Texas Rangers or Miami Marlins this week — two teams they may regret not being able to take care of.

As it stands, the still-hot Padres hold a four-game lead for the third and final Wild Card berth. The Diamondbacks do not control their own destiny any longer, with just nine games left to play.

Arizona's WCE (Wild Card Elimination) number is down to six, meaning any combination of D-backs losses or Padres wins totaling six games would lead to elimination from the Postseason hunt.

With that in mind, Arizona's matchup with the Yankees isn't exactly a true, pure must-win. But it's one they simply cannot afford to watch slip away. If the Diamondbacks are going to make a late playoff push, it has to begin now — and to a relatively extreme degree.

And the D-backs will get three of the Yankees' tougher arms in the process.

Diamondbacks vs Yankees pitching matchups

Game 1: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez vs RHP Gerrit Cole

Eduardo Rodriguez is the right man to take the mound for Arizona in a big series. Despite being knocked around for six runs (only three earned thanks to a pair of errors) against the Rangers his last time out, Rodriguez's 2.62 ERA has been as impactful to the D-backs' rotation as it looks.

Gerrit Cole hasn't quite been the Cy Young-winning version of himself this year coming off Tommy John surgery, but he's still a tough task. Cole has a 3.67 ERA, but has given up seven home runs in his past two starts (11.1 innings) and has a 6.48 ERA in September.

Game 2: RHP Brandon Pfaadt vs RHP Cam Schlittler

Brandon Pfaadt has come down to earth a bit since his red-hot return to the majors earlier in the season. He's been knocked around for nine runs in his last 13 innings over two starts, though his season ERA is holding strong at 3.77.

Cam Schlittler is the frontrunner for the AL Cy Young award, and for good reason. His 1.95 ERA is nearly impossible to believe, and his peripheral metrics aren't far off that number. He's struck out 228 batters in 184.2 innings this year and has 14 wins. Good luck.

Game 3: RHP Corbin Burnes vs RHP Will Warren

Corbin Burnes is still working his way back to full strength. That was evident by his most recent start, in which he surrendered the most runs in an outing (five) while a member of the Diamondbacks, over 4.2 innings.

He'll look to get stretched out even further in his third start Sunday, and positive box score results — while important — are nothing to be counted on.

Will Warren has been effective for the Yankees. He has a 3.89 ERA on the year and has given up just one earned run in 14 September innings.