New York Yankees top Arizona Diamondbacks in 10th inning

It took 10 innings for the Diamondbacks to lose to the New York Yankees on Wednesday night, dropping the rubber match of a three-game series 6-5 in front of another rowdy Chase Field crowd of 46,325.

But it was the sort of game that probably should have been over long before that. It depends on your point of view as to whether the Diamondbacks should have won it or not.

Wednesday night's postgame reaction

Call it a testament to the Diamondbacks' grit or a series of failures by the Yankees, but on a night when the worst bullpen in the modern era was asked to get 23 outs; when a franchise record 13 walks were issued; when two outs were made on the bases in the first inning alone, it's hard to say it was a game that should have been won.

But that's kind of what it was for the Diamondbacks, who were two outs away from somehow stealing a series victory from the defending World Series champions.

Instead, the Yankees tied the game in the ninth on an Alex Rodriguez sacrifice fly and won it in the 10th on Curtis Granderson's leadoff solo home run off reliever Carlos Rosa.

Even then, the Diamondbacks had another opportunity to win in the bottom of the 10th, when they loaded the bases with nobody out against legendary Yankees closer Mariano Rivera.

But Rivera pitched out of the jam, getting Chris Young and Adam LaRoche to pop out before striking out Mark Reynolds to end it.

Despite a train wreck of an outing from Dontrelle Willis - who walked seven in just 2 1/3 innings - the Diamondbacks had a 5-4 lead in the ninth inning for new closer Aaron Heilman to protect.

They had a lead thanks to - not in spite of - their bullpen. Blaine Boyer pitched a gritty three innings, Sam Demel dominated in a 1 2/3-inning stint and Juan Gutierrez had an emotional and effective eighth inning.

They led thanks to Gerardo Parra's lunging catch in the fifth that started a double play. They led because of a career-high-tying five RBIs from LaRoche, who not only delivered a pair of key two-run singles in the early innings, but also hit a run-scoring dribbler in the sixth.

But Heilman couldn't get the job done in the ninth.

The Yankees began the inning by drawing a pair of walks and after a groundout put runners on second and third, Rodriguez knotted the game at 5 with a fly ball.

And after Rivera retired the side in the ninth, Granderson led off the 10th by hooking an off-speed pitch from Rosa and sending it into the right-field stands.

Still, it wasn't over yet. Stephen Drew led off the 10th with a broken bat single to right and Justin Upton followed with a double to left, a ball that kicked out toward left fielder Brett Gardner.

Had the ball been sucked into the corner, Drew might have had a shot to score. Instead, runners were at second and third, the hot-hitting Miguel Montero was walked intentionally, and Rivera was able to work his way out of the jam.

Diamondbacks rewind

Baserunning blunders: The Diamondbacks ran into a pair of outs in the first inning, spoiling what should have been a huge inning against Yankees starter Javier Vazquez.

First, third-base coach Bo Porter put up a late stop sign for Kelly Johnson, who blew through it before strangely slamming on the brakes midway to the plate. He was tagged out easily.

Then, after Adam LaRoche's single to right, baserunner Miguel Montero, who was running on the pitch, rounded second and headed toward third, where he was thrown out easily.

Willis' night: Diamondbacks lefty Dontrelle Willis had another wild night. After issuing four, six and four walks in his first three starts with his new team, Willis walked seven in 2 1/3 innings.

The outing fell just short of a disaster perhaps only because the Yankees, like the Diamondbacks, were feeling particularly charitable on the bases.

In the first inning, Nick Swisher was picked off and Mark Teixeira was caught stealing at third on the back end of a strike-him-out, throw-him-out double play.

Demel dominates: Reliever Sam Demel had yet another impressive outing. He retired all four batters he faced and actually got five outs because the first batter bounced into a double play.

He has retired all 10 batters he's faced to start his big-league career, getting 11 outs.

View from the press box

It was pretty funny to see Diamondbacks reliever Juan Gutierrez going nuts in celebration of his strikeout of the Yankees' Jorge Posada to end the top of the eighth inning. It was only last week that his teammate Miguel Montero tore into Detroit closer Jose Valverde. Maybe Montero will rip Gutierrez next? We're kidding, of course.

June 23, 2010: Diamondbacks' Mark Reynolds swings and strikes out with the bases loaded in the 10th inning to end the game.