Gallen Sprays, Defense Sloppy as D-backs Fall to Cubs on Opening Day

The D-backs' ace couldn't find a rhythm, and defensive miscues cost Arizona.

Mar 27, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen (23) pitches against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images / Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

The Arizona Diamondbacks opened their season at Chase Field with a disappointing 10-6 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Thursday. It was a rough game for starter Zac Gallen and the bullpen, as the D-backs were out-hit 12-9.

Gallen, enjoying the honor of being named the D-backs' Opening Day starter, came into Thursday night with a 2.89 Spring Training ERA behind him. Unfortunately for the right-hander, he struggled to find a rhythm early on.

A throwing error by third baseman Eugenio Suárez prolonged a smooth first inning, as a nine-pitch inning turned into a walk and 17 pitches.

But Gallen then issued two walks in the second inning, before surrendering two hard-hit balls to bring three runs across for the Cubs. He threw 29 pitches in the inning, just 12 for strikes, throwing 11 straight balls and walking back-to-back batters.

He surrendered one more run - a solo homer by outfielder Ian Happ in the fourth. It was fours across the board for Gallen, pitching four innings, allowing four hits, four runs, four walks and striking out four. He threw 83 pitches, only 43 for strikes.

"Just having trouble executing, really, is what it came down to," Gallen told reporters postgame. "It was a tough time getting the rhythm. ... From a delivery standpoint, I just felt like I was working a little bit too fast.Having trouble just kind of syncing everything up."

Manager Torey Lovullo called it an "uncharacteristic" outing for Gallen in his postgame press conference.

"[Gallen's] got as good of a down fastball with carry as anybody in the league. So I was thinking maybe the carry wasn't there, and there might have been a little bit of a yank. It looked like it was just falling off the plate a tiny bit," Lovullo said.

Regardless, the manager expressed confidence in his pitcher despite the poor results.

"We're counting on him to go out and win a ton of baseball games. And he will. He's going to get into Zac form and go out there and start to dominate. It's just one start," Lovullo said,

Ryne Nelson entered in relief in the fifth, and got the first two outs with relative ease.

But the uncharacteristically poor defense from the D-backs continued. After Nelson's first two outs in the fifth, Geraldo Perdomo made a mental error, throwing to second base on a routine ground ball that Pete Crow-Armstrong beat out, despite having a play at first.

Then with the bases loaded, a hard-hit ball went in and out of Jake McCarthy's glove in center field, bringing home three runs to make it 7-3. It was admittedly a difficult play, but McCarthy couldn't squeeze the ball to end the inning.

Unfortunately for Nelson, neither play was recorded as an error, and four earned runs went on his line. He exited after 1.2 innings on 50 pitches, allowing five hits, four runs, a walk and striking out three.

Arizona's offense did show some life early, but it wasn't enough to keep pace with the Cubs. As the D-backs have done in recent years, a Ketel Marte leadoff double and a bloop single by Josh Naylor gave Arizona its first run and a 1-0 lead in the first inning.

In the second, Eugenio Suárez got into a ball for a 430-foot homer to left field. A Geraldo Perdomo infield single in the fourth closed the gap to 4-3.

The D-backs collected six hits and a walk off Chicago left-hander Justin Steele, good for three earned runs.

Then facing right-hander Nate Pearson in the sixth, the D-backs snuck two more across to make the deficit 8-5. They did not record a base hit in the inning, garnering two walks, a hit-by-pitch and a pair of sac flies.

Perhaps surprisingly, the highlight of Arizona's pitching was a five-out performance from newcomer Jalen Beeks. The lefty signed a deal with the D-backs on Tuesday, and went 1.2 scoreless innings with a strikeout and plenty of weak contact.

Bryce Jarvis threw a scoreless eighth, but allowed two runs in the ninth to effectively put the game out of reach.

Marte ripped a one-out single in the ninth, Corbin Carroll followed with a double, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. brought Marte home on an RBI groundout, but that would end the scoring for Arizona.

Marte finished his night 2-for-5 with a double and two runs scored.

Perhaps an argument could be made that the Cubs' 0-2 start to the season in Tokyo might have spurred them on to a hotter Opening Day than the D-backs, but Arizona's calling card of solid defense was nearly entirely absent in their first game of the year, and it ultimately cost them the game. The D-backs are now 14-14 all time in season openers.

"I think the theme of the night was that we made too many mistakes and, they turned into stressors," said Lovullo. "Too many stressors on this team at one time, it's a lot to overcome. ... the plays that weren't made defensively."

"My feeling was from the dugout, we just couldn't catch our breath. Every time we came back in the dugout, we just had given up some points, some big numbers, and we were trying to get that big hit and couldn't get it."

"We're going to get there, and we're going to be fine," the skipper continued. "It's one game, we've just got to turn the page..."

Torey Lovullo after #Dbacks opening day loss pic.twitter.com/7c00QrxN13

— Jack Sommers (@shoewizard59) March 28, 2025

The Diamondbacks will have another shot at the Cubs on Friday at Chase Field, with first pitch scheduled for 6:40 p.m.