The Diamondbacks continue to pile on series wins, clinching their fifth series win since June 28 with a 3-0 shutout win over the Chicago Cubs. Two home runs in the fifth provided all the scoring in the game and the pitching made it stand by holding Chicago to just four hits on the night.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!It was a tough night for Zac Gallen, but ultimately he put up five zeros on the scoreboard. He walked a career-high six batters, looking flustered all night as he couldn’t locate his pitches. The Cubs were able to put nine baserunners on the Diamondbacks’ ace, but Gallen found a way to strand those runners.
Kyle Hendricks matched zeros with Gallen for the first four innings, but Arizona broke through in the fifth. Alek Thomas got a sinker up and out over the plate, lifting a fly ball that landed in the basket above the left field wall to put the Diamondbacks on the board. Geraldo Perdomo then walked, bringing up Corbin Carroll with a chance to turn it into a big inning. Hendricks grooved a changeup to Carroll, who drove a ball 418 feet out to right center to triple Arizona’s lead.
Don’t look now, but Corbin Carroll is heating up in July. His 4th of the month extends the #Dbacks lead to 3. pic.twitter.com/z4BV4K3IsQ
— Burn City D-backs Talk????️ (@BurnCityDbacks) July 21, 2024
Carroll has struggled much of the year but has heated up in July. After hitting only two home runs in his first 87 games, he has four in his last nine. His recent power surge at the plate has been a key part of the team’s recent offensive success.
Gallen would be immediately tested the following inning. He walked Nico Hoerner on four pitches to open the inning. Michael Busch then drove a ball to left field that got swallowed up by the ivy. That ended up being a huge break for the Diamondbacks, as it kept the speedy Hoerner at third as a ground rule double. Gallen recovered by striking out Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ, then inducing a Mike Tauchman groundout to second to leave the bases loaded.
The bullpen picked up where Gallen left off. Kevin Ginkel, Justin Martinez, and Ryan Thompson each threw a clean inning, with Martinez recording a pair of strikeouts with his splitter that play-by-play man Jason Benetti described as “demonic”. Paul Sewald allowed a one-out single but struck out Pete Crow-Armstrong and induced a Nico Hoerner flyout for his 15th save of the year.
Next Game
The Diamondbacks (51-48) are now three games over .500 for the first time this season. They’ll go for the sweep of the Cubs (47-53) at Wrigley Field. Arizona will send up right-hander Brandon Pfaadt (4-6, 3.97 ERA) while Chicago will go with All-Star left-hander Shota Imanaga (8-2, 2.97 ERA). First pitch at Wrigley Field will be at 11:20 A.M. MST.
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks, Arizona Cardinals, and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
