Diamondbacks make up ground on Mets in Wild Card race with win over Phillies

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks grinded out a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night, making up a game on the New York Mets for the third National League Wild Card spot.

The D-backs (78-77) are back down to 2.0 games behind the Mets with seven contests remaining.

The Mets (80-75) lost to the Washington Nationals in extra innings on Saturday, although the Cincinnati Reds (79-76) defeated the Chicago Cubs to climb to within one game of New York and one game ahead of Arizona.

“Obviously, it’d be better to be two games up, but as long as you’ve got a chance, that’s all you can ask for,” catcher James McCann said. “I’ve been talking to the guys about, we have to take care of our business. We can’t rely on another team. Obviously, it’s gonna take a little bit from another team, but if we don’t take care of our business, it doesn’t matter anyways.”

McCann and manager Torey Lovullo said the Diamondbacks pay attention to what is going on around the league, that’s September in a pennant chase. But the D-backs have to remain locked in on controlling what they can to stay alive.

“We’ve earned that right to watch baseball games that are very meaningful,” Lovullo said. “But we still have more work to do, and we still gotta play better baseball in certain areas and go out and win baseball games.”

Zac Gallen delivers for Diamondbacks while under the weather

Zac Gallen entered his start on Saturday having spent the past few days under the weather. And yet, he delivered a quality start with seven innings, three earned runs and nine strikeouts.

It was his longest outing since July 1, and he did so with elevated velocity despite having to grind through a cold.

“Was taking its toll on me, but just felt like I needed to go out there and give the guys 100 pretty solid pitches to give them a chance to win,” Gallen said.

He got off to a shaky start, allowing two runs after a lead-off walk in the first inning, but he was dominant from that point on. From innings 2-7, Gallen allowed one run (Alec Bohm home run) on three hits with eight of his punch outs.

He had the curveball working, as the pitch induced 10 whiffs on 19 swings.

Gallen said he emptied the tank with two outs in the seventh inning, and he got Otto Kemp to hit a grounder to third. Blaze Alexander’s throw was low and got away, putting the tying run in scoring position. The Diamondbacks kept Gallen in there, and he walked Bryson Stott to bring lead-off man Harrison Bader back up for a fourth look at Gallen.

McCann went to visit his ailing pitcher at the mound.

“I joked with McCann in the seventh, he came out, took the mound visit and I was like, ‘I’m cooked,'” Gallen said. “And he’s like, ‘We’ve got one more guy.'”

McCann added: “ I knew he was exhausted. I know the rollercoaster ride as a pitcher when you get your ground ball and that doesn’t result in the out. I wanted to make sure he just had time to breathe. This was his game and he was gonna get himself out of it.”

Bader grounded into a fielder’s choice, and Gallen’s day was done at 104 pitches.

Gallen’s season ERA dropped to 4.70, and his ERA in 10 starts since the trade deadline is 2.82. Arizona is 7-3 in those games.

 

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How did the Diamondbacks take the lead?

Trailing 3-2 in the sixth, Arizona rallied with back-to-back doubles from Alexander and McCann to chase Phillies starter Aaron Nola, followed by a go-ahead single from Ildemaro Vargas.

Arizona out-hit Philadelphia 11-7, and eight Diamondbacks recorded knocks. The bottom of the order was productive, as Vargas delivered two hits from the eight-hole while Jake McCarthy went 3-for-4 while batting ninth.

John Curtiss recorded the save, his first of the year. The Diamondbacks have had 17 pitchers record saves this season, a major league record.

Up next for Diamondbacks

In a duel of left-handers on Sunday, Eduardo Rodriguez takes the ball for Arizona against Philadelphia’s Ranger Suarez.

The rubber match begins at 1:10 p.m. MST on ESPN 620 AM and the Arizona Sports app. 

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