It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. Those wise words from Joc Pederson rang true for the Arizona Diamondbacks and their ace, Zac Gallen, in a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Chase Field.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“It was a really good recovery type of win,” said Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo in the postgame coverage on Dbacks TV. “It was a recovery day for Gallen and then offensively I thought we got on our feet at the right time and got the win.”
Arizona trailed 3-0 in the second, as Gallen struggled out of the gate. Through the first 10 hitters, the Pirates had five hits and it was looking like another tough start in what had been one of the toughest months of his career. However, he found the feel for his knuckle-curve in the second inning and rode the pitch successfully through six innings.
As Gallen started stringing together zeros on the scoreboard, the Diamondbacks started working on Pirates starter Luis Ortiz. Despite missing opportunities to score, the hitters were persistent in creating offensive pressure. Corbin Carroll’s triple to start the third got them on the board, then they broke through in the sixth. Pederson crushed a long home run to right-center to cut the deficit to one, getting the ball rolling on what would be the big inning. Christian Walker walked on to chase Ortiz from the game.
Joc got all of this one! Second straight game with a 440+ foot homer. pic.twitter.com/d1A2hwxwpR
— Burn City D-backs Talk????️ (@BurnCityDbacks) July 27, 2024
Facing Carmen Mlodzinski with the tying runs on base, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno singled to tie the game. A double play threatened to scuttle an opportunity to take the lead, but Mlodzinski’s slider kicked away from Joey Bart to allow Gurriel to score the go-ahead run.
With the lead and Gallen on a roll, Lovullo tried to squeeze one more inning out of his ace. It didn’t work out, as Gallen was unable to finish off Bart and Michael A. Taylor with two-strike counts. That spelled the end for Gallen, with the tying and go-ahead runs on base with no outs.
Kevin Ginkel missed with his first three pitches, putting the Diamondbacks in a precarious position. However, the next six pitches resulted in a called or swinging strike, striking out Andrew McCutchen and Oneil Cruz, then retired Nick Gonzales on a hard-hit grounder to third. That ended up being a big moment for Arizona in this game, as they kept the lead and Gallen’s quality start intact.
Ryan Thompson and Paul Sewald each allowed a hit, but put up a zero to take the game home. Arizona’s bullpen has been solid in July, the unit collectively pitching to a 3.07 ERA in 82 innings and getting reinforcements with left-hander A.J. Puk arriving in Arizona on Saturday. Those four, along with Joe Mantiply and Justin Martinez, gives the team a solid set of relievers to use at the end of games.
Next Game
The Diamondbacks will have an opportunity to pick up a huge series win over the Pirates if they can take the second game of the series. Right-hander Brandon Pfaadt (4-6, 3.74 ERA) pitches for Arizona while left-hander Marco Gonzales (1-1, 2.70 ERA) goes for Pittsburgh. First pitch at Chase Field will be at 5:10 P.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
