Diamondbacks’ Zac Gallen turns in up-and-down Game 1 vs. Rangers

Game 1 of the 2023 World Series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers was a mixed bag for ace Zac Gallen.

At times, he appeared to be in control. Other times he wasn’t as he allowed three runs across five innings of work on Friday night.

Gallen ran into trouble early into the matchup, beginning with a Corey Seager walk before giving up a pair of runs to Evan Carter and Adolis Garcia, who set a postseason RBI record, in the first inning.

The result has been a common occurrence for the ace this postseason, having allowed multiple runs in the opening frame in four of his five postseason starts.

Despite the unwelcome start, Gallen turned things with a 13-pitch second inning that included a strikeout of third baseman Josh Jung.

He picked up where he left off in the third, striking out the first two batters he faced and looking like he had flipped the script.

Much like the first inning, though, another Seager walk would later represent a Rangers run.

Following Seager’s five-pitch walk, Gallen watched Carter double before walking Garcia and Mitch Garver to hand Texas a 3-2 advantage.

But for all the ups and down Gallen had in the first three innings, he managed to settle in as the game progressed, allowing just one hit in the fourth and fifth innings combined.

A big part of the successful stretch was getting out ahead of batters, with five of the seven Gallen faced over the two frames seeing first-pitch strikes.

For comparison, the ace only had one first-pitch strike during the first-inning struggles.

Two of his best innings would end up being his last, with Gallen turning the ball over to reliever Ryan Thompson with the D-backs up 5-3 in the sixth.

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