The Diamondbacks defeated the Texas Rangers 6-0 at Chase Field. Christian Walker powered the offense early, homering twice off Nathan Eovaldi to establish a big lead early, while Zac Gallen the bullpen shut down the Rangers lineup. The win, coupled with a Mets loss to the Blue Jays, now puts Arizona up two games for the second Wild Card spot.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“I felt like I was due,” said Walker in the on-field postgame interview on DbacksTV. “It’s good to help the team win, this team is going to win a lot. It was just fortunate it happened to be me tonight. It’s fun to be part of this lineup and a lot of credit to our staff tonight for shutting out a good offense.”
Walker, who’s had a tough week since coming off the injured list on September 3, finally had the performance that suggests the slugging first baseman is back. In the first, he followed up a 450-foot blast from Joc Pederson with one of his own to the opposite field. Taking a 95 MPH fastball out over the plate, he turned it around for a line drive home run. It marked the fourth time this season that Pederson and Walker hit back-to-back home runs.
Joc Pederson and Christian Walker go back-to-back. ???? pic.twitter.com/HRWQaroohN
— MLB (@MLB) September 11, 2024
Not satisfied with just one home run, Walker was in another situation to tack on in his next at-bat after a Pederson walk. He got a cutter down and out over the plate and lifted it over the right field fence to put the Diamondbacks up 4-0. Entering the game with just one opposite field home run on the season, Walker hit two on the night.
Yeah, we're thinking he's back. ???? pic.twitter.com/Gr0zBSUYQ1
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) September 11, 2024
The early run support was more than enough for Gallen to take the win. While it wasn’t an efficient outing, the Diamondbacks ace fired five scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and walking two while striking out seven. Combined with his last start against San Francisco, Gallen has recorded 11 consecutive scoreless innings with 15 strikeouts.
With a 4-0 lead and a rested bullpen due to the off day, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo decided to pull the plug on his ace after five innings and 94 pitches. Following the top of the fifth, the two had a long chat on the far end of the dugout.
“These discussions have been ongoing since Spring Training,” said Lovullo. “Let’s pick some times where there are some very meaningful innings where you go back out there and go 105-107 [pitches]. We had a gassed up bullpen. I told him ‘This is not one of those times we need to press you. Another game, five days from now, and the extra month of baseball if we get there, I might ask you to go back out there. Right now is not that time.'”
The bullpen closed out the game in style, allowing just one hit and one walk over the final four innings with six strikeouts. The lone baserunners were an infield hit and a walk against Kevin Ginkel. A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez punctuated the night by striking out five of the six hitters they faced.
Next Game
The Diamondbacks will try to go for the sweep of their home half of the home-and-home series against the Rangers. They’ll send right-hander Merrill Kelly (4-0, 4.08 ERA), coming off his best outing in four months. Texas will counter with left-hander Cody Bradford (5-2, 3.05 ERA). First pitch at Chase Field will be at 12:40 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
