Arizona Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen was locked up in a pitcher’s duel against St. Louis Cardinals Miles Mikolas Friday night. While it was Mikolas that blinked first, giving up a solo homer in the fourth inning, it was Gallen who melted down in the sixth, leading to a 4-3 Cardinals victory. The D-backs made it interesting in the end thanks to a pinch-hit homer by Gabriel Moreno, but it was too little too late.
Prior to the game manager Torey Lovullo was asked why Gallen has been struggling this year year. He correctly identified Gallen’s walk percentage as the main culprit. That was the issue again in this game. He cruised through the first five innings, allowing one single, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch.
But following a Victor Scott leadoff single in the sixth, Gallen completely lost the strike zone. He walked Lars Nootbar, and following a sacrifice and intentional walk to load the bases, Gallen walked the red-hot Ivan Herrera for the first Cardinals run.
Nolan Arenado then jumped on a fastball at the top of the zone and drove it to the centerfield wall for a three-run triple. It looked like a catchable ball, Alek Thomas got there, but just couldn’t make the play as he slid and crashed into the wall. Just like that a 1-0 lead was turned into a 4-1 deficit, one which the D-backs never recovered from.
Gallen’s final line was 5.2 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 4 K. He threw 100 pitches, just 55 for strikes. His record now stands at 3-6 with a 5.25 ERA. The days of him being an ace-level starter have faded into the rearview mirror.
The Diamondbacks’ offense did their starter no favors while he was in the game either. Ketel Marte hit his eighth homer of the year leading off the fourth inning, but that was all Arizona could get off Mikolas. The Cardinals starter allowed just four hits and walked one while striking out four. His record improved to 4-2 and his ERA dropped to 3.51
The D-backs did have a couple of chances to score if they’d been able to deliver a hit with a runner in scoring position. But Eugenio Suarez lined out to end the sixth, and the Carroll flew out to left against JoJo Romero to end the seventh.
Kyle Leahy gave up a single in a scoreless eighth inning. But Moreno came off the bench to hit an upper-deck homer to left against closer Ryan Helsley with a runner on to close the score to 4-3. Corbin Carroll concluded an 0-for-5 night by popping out to third base to end the game.