D-backs, Yankees ready for end of deadline days

Time is running out for teams to make trades and that means front offices will be hunkered down and engaged in various trade scenarios, likely up to the final minutes before Wednesday's 4 p.m. ET trade deadline.

And yes, it is even possible some late moves could go down while the Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Yankees are in the late innings of the finale of a two-game series at Yankee Stadium.

Arizona opened the series with a 4-2 win Tuesday when Christian Walker and Carson Kelly homered while Archie Bradley recorded a four-out save. Arizona rebounded nicely from dropping three of four in Miami.

Arizona also did so on a day in which rumors swirled about the Yankees acquiring D-backs left-hander Robbie Ray in an attempt to bolster their rotation.

"We talk about making statements here each and every time we go out and play the baseball game," Arizona manager Torey Lovullo told reporters. "I want them to block that out and take care of our business. At the end of the day, I put it in the hands of our general manager and our front office. They do an exceptional job of understanding what direction we're going in.

"This is a good team, a special team in there. I want to obviously keep it intact, but we can't control that. We can control the controllables and take care of our business."

The Diamondbacks are only three games out of the second wild-card spot despite going 5-7 in their last 12 games since a 19-4 win in Texas on July 17.

The Yankees won seven of their first nine games coming out of the All-Star break but have dropped six of nine since July 21 as fans clamor for the addition of a starting pitcher by the deadline. So far of those linked to the Yankees, Marcus Stroman and Trevor Bauer are off the board after being dealt to the New York Mets and Cincinnati Reds respectively.

The Yankees are also playing shorthanded with DJ LeMahieu (groin) and Luke Voit (core muscle injury) day-to-day.

"Whatever happens over the next 24 hours will be," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "I know in our room, we know what we're capable of. We know what the expectation is. Whether or not something happens doesn't change that. We know we're capable of something really special with all the guys we have in that room right now."

One of those Boone is referring to is Aaron Judge, who is in a 1-for-23 slump.

"You can't help but think about it," Judge said. "I think we're all going to be happy once this trade deadline's passed."

Zack Greinke (10-4, 2.87 ERA) will start for Arizona. Greinke is three wins shy of reaching 200 for his career and 0-1 with a 3.79 ERA in his last three starts and took a no-decision in Arizona's 3-2 loss at Miami after pitching six innings of one-run ball.

Greinke has completed six innings in 20 of his 22 starts, including April 30 against the Yankees when he allowed one run on five hits in a season-high 7 2/3 innings.

The right-hander is 4-4 with a 5.16 ERA in 14 career appearances (11 starts) against the Yankees.

Masahiro Tanaka (7-6, 4.79) is hoping to rebound from the worst of his 153 career starts. The righty is taking the mound after allowing career highs of 12 runs and 12 hits in 3 1/3 innings Thursday in Boston.

Tanaka has a 9.55 ERA in his last four starts and a 7.02 ERA in his last nine starts.

Tanaka faced Arizona May 1 and allowed three runs on five hits in four innings of New York's 3-2 loss.

--Field Level Media