Zac Gallen gets beat up in Diamondbacks’ loss to Giants
Apr 20, 2024, 4:21 PM | Updated: 5:30 pm
Zac Gallen #23 of the Arizona Diamondbacks walks back up onto the mound with a new ball after giving up a two-run home run to Patrick Bailey #14 of the San Francisco Giants in the bottom of the fifth inning at Oracle Park on April 20, 2024 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Patrick Bailey drove in three runs and had four hits, including a two-run homer into McCovey Cove, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-3 on Saturday.
Bailey’s home run off Zac Gallen (3-1) landed in a floating kayak and broke a 3-3, fifth-inning tie. It was the 165th splash hit since Oracle Park opened in 2000, the 103rd by a Giants hitter and the first by a switch-hitter since the Cubs’ Robel García in 2019.
Bailey’s splash hit landed directly into a kayak 🤯pic.twitter.com/ZptS3CURbI
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) April 20, 2024
“It was pretty cool that he gets a four-hit game, hits a ball in the Bay and gets to sign a lot of bobbleheads before the game,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “It ended up being probably a day he’ll never forget.”
Bailey went 4 for 4 on a day when the first 15,000 fans received a bobblehead of the catcher, the second four-hit game of Bailey’s big league career.
“That dude’s unbelievable,” Giants starter Kyle Harrison said. “The guy’s the truth. If you can do that on your bobblehead night, it’s definitely a day to remember for him.”
All of Bailey’s hits were with two outs, and he finished a triple shy of the cycle. His ground-rule double in the seventh just bounced over the left field wall, robbing him of a chance to go for three bases.
“I was thinking it,” Bailey said. “I was probably going to push the limits a little bit there.”
Harrison allowed three runs and six hits in four innings, and the Giants’ bullpen finished with scoreless relief. Ryan Walker (2-2) pitched a 1-2-3 inning for the win.
San Francisco can win its second straight series Sunday, responding with a season-high 16 hits after a 17-1 loss on Friday.
“Obviously, last night was not the baseball we’d like to play consistently,” Bailey said. “But over a stretch of 162, I think if we show up and do what we did today … we have a chance to do something special here, for sure.”
Gallen, who gave up five runs in five innings, had been 7-0 with a 1.32 ERA in 14 April starts. He said he didn’t feel like he was giving up hard contact, but credited hitters.
“It just sucks when you just feel like you’re making good pitches, and guys are battling,” Gallen said.
Jung Hoo Lee homered for the Giants to lead off in the first inning and hit an RBI double in the eighth, extending his hitting streak to 11 games.
After the game, the Giants acquired right-hander Mitch White from Toronto for cash and transferred right-hander Alex Cobb to the 60-day injured list as he recovers from hip surgery last October.
Diamondbacks, Giants injury news
Diamondbacks: RHP Paul Sewald (oblique) threw 15 pitches in an extended bullpen session on Friday. … RHP Ryne Nelson (right elbow contusion), who is on the 15-day injured list, feels “surprisingly well,” and the “stiffness wasn’t as bad as he thought” after being hit by a comebacker on Thursday, according to manager Torey Lovullo.
Giants: RHP Sean Hjelle (mild right elbow sprain) was activated from the 15-day injured list after a rehab stint, and RHP Kai-Wei Teng was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento after Friday’s game.
Up next
RHP Jordan Hicks (2-0, 1.57 ERA) pitches for the Giants against RHP Merrill Kelly (2-0, 2.19 ERA) for the Diamondbacks.
