ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Zac Gallen picks up 1st win as D-backs win series opener vs Marlins
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Zac Gallen has been fantastic this season.
In a 5-4 win over the Marlins in Miami on Monday night, the right-hander delivered 6.1 innings allowing two earned runs on five hits and no walks while striking out five.
It was Gallen’s first win of the season and his second straight quality start after beginning the season on the IL with a hairline fracture in his forearm. He peaked striking out the side in the fourth inning.
“I knew I was going to have my A-game tonight,” Gallen told reporters postgame. “There was motivation there.”
“There was a lot of emotion tonight so I was trying to keep that in check,” he added. “He made some comments last year, so I’ve been sitting on that for about a year now. It worked in our favor. We won the game. That’s the most important thing.”
The Marlins finally generated some offense in the seventh when Gallen hit the first two batters he faced. After crossing the 100 pitch threshold by striking out Brian Anderson, manager Torey Lovullo pulled his starter for Noe Ramirez who allowed three Marlins to reach base in a four-run inning to make things interesting.
“I ran out of steam a little bit,” Gallen said. “The change-up got away from Garcia and the sinker got away from Cooper. I was trying to attack and be as efficient as possible. I was smelling blood at the end of the game there.”
The breezy start allowed the D-backs to take a two-run lead in the first on a home run by David Peralta.
They tacked on two more runs in the fifth behind RBIs from Jordan Luplow and Peralta again.
“I’m always ready for the first pitch,” Peralta told reporters postgame. “I was ready to hit. He has a great change-up. That’s his best pitch. He was trying to get ahead with the fastball. He made a mistake and I hit the mistake. It really worked well for the team. It set a tone in the beginning of the game.”
Luplow added another RBI in the seventh.
The D-backs 1-2-3 hitters (Luplow, Peralta and Daulton Varsho) went a combined 7-for-12 with five RBIs and four runs scored.
“The entire lineup was patient with its approach and took advantage of the right opportunities,” Peralta said.
Joe Mantiply and Ian Kennedy came in to shut the door with scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth for the D-backs. Kennedy picked up his second save on the season.
Arizona improves to 11-13 on the season despite ranking last in the MLB in batting average, and second-to-last in strike outs.
The pitching staff has carried the load, ranking in the top 10 in ERA and home runs allowed.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks RHP Humberto Castellanos (1-1, 5.79) will face Miami LHP Trevor Rogers (1-3, 5.09) in the second of the three-game set on Tuesday in Miami.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
