PHOENIX -- The New York Yankees haven't been a good road team this season. However, pitcher Nathan Eovaldi is a road warrior, and he carried the Yankees with a dominating effort Wednesday.

The right-hander allowed one hit in six innings and retired the final 18 hitters he faced to help the Yankees earn a 4-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks and avoid a sweep in the desert.

"We've been struggling the past two games, and you want to help get the guys back on track," said Eovaldi (4-2), who came into the game with a 4.85 ERA but has now won his past four decisions. He won seven consecutive starts on the road last season, and he has now won nine of his last 11 road starts dating back to last June.

Eovaldi's fastball touched 100 mph several times on the Chase Field radar gun, and he recorded 10 groundouts and five strikeouts among his 18 outs.

"I felt good in the bullpen, but that stuff changes when a batter gets in the box," Eovaldi said. "But that first inning, when I was able to locate the fastball both in and away, and I had a real good feel for my slider early on."

Brett Gardner's first-inning, two-run homer gave the Yankees the lead for good. Jacoby Ellsbury had three of New York's 11 hits and drove in the third run with a sixth-inning single against Arizona starter Shelby Miller, who was in trouble from the start but wiggled out of several jams.

"It was nice to get it going early and get two runs up right away," said Ellsbury, who finished 3-for-3 with two walks, two runs and an RBI. "This was an important win for us, to get some momentum going into Oakland."

The Yankees (16-23) won on the road for just the second time in the past 11 attempts and the fifth time in 17 games away from the Bronx this season.

New York manager Joe Girardi lifted Eovaldi after six innings and 85 pitches, choosing to use his 1-2-3 bullpen combination of Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman to finish the final three innings.

They did the job. Betances walked the first two hitters in the seventh before rebounding. Miller struck out three but allowed a solo homer to Arizona's Chris Owings in the eighth inning. That was the second and final Arizona hit for the night.

Chapman pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save.

"If the score was a little different, maybe I would do it a little differently," Girardi said. "But we had Betances, Miller and Chapman rested, and that's what they are there for. Nate did his job, and it was the responsibility of the next three guys to do their jobs."

Mark Teixeira, among those criticized earlier in the day by Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner for the team's slow start, was 0-for-5 with three strikeouts and saw his batting average drop to .203 for the season. He has gone 30 games without a home run.

The Diamondbacks (19-24) had 25 hits in the first two games of the series but missed a chance to sweep the Yankees for the first time in franchise history.

"It was a close baseball game. One big hit away from tying it up or taking the lead, but we didn't get that," Arizona right fielder Brandon Drury said. "(Eovaldi) was throwing all three, four pitches for strikes. He was throwing 98 miles an hour. He was throwing sliders and split-fingers in hitters' count and did a good job of mixing it up."

Ellsbury is now 6-for-6 in his career against Shelby Miller with four RBIs. He was on base five times in the game and knocked Miller out of the game with run-scoring single with two out in the sixth.

Arizona manager Chip Hale went to the mound before Ellsbury's at-bat and decided to stick with Miller.

"He is one of our horses, our No. 2 guy. For me, he earned it," Hale said. "It was his game at that point. You go with him. We had a clear plan on how to get (Ellsbury) out. He didn't execute. I would do it again.

"Those are the reasons why managers don't sleep."

Jean Segura had the only Arizona hit over the first seven innings. He led off the first with a ground ball up the middle that caromed off the second base bag and rolled into short left center field for a double.

Segura went to third on a Phil Gosselin groundout and scored on a Paul Goldschmidt groundout -- and that was the last baserunner against Eovaldi.

Shelby Miller (1-5) continues to struggle, particularly at Chase Field, where eight of the nine home runs he has allowed have come.

NOTES: Yankees DH Alex Rodriguez (hamstring strain) took part in some half-speed running drills Wednesday with manager Joe Girardi watching. Rodriguez is eligible to come off the disabled list Thursday, but Girardi said Saturday is probably the best-case scenario. ... Diamondbacks RHP Josh Collmenter, who hasn't pitched in the majors this season due to shoulder inflammation, allowed a run on four hits in 4 1/3 innings in his first rehab start with Triple-A Reno. He has one more rehab start scheduled. ... Arizona manager Chip Hale praised INF/OF Brandon Drury for staying focused at the plate (.474 over his past five games, .318 for the season) despite playing several different defensive positions. ... Diamondbacks RHP Brad Ziegler recorded his 36th consecutive save Tuesday, tying Yankee great Mariano Rivera for the 16th-longest save streak in baseball history.