Fletcher's Glove, Bat Impressive in Win Over Giants
Sportradar
Arizona's young outfield had been the talk over the off-season, with Corbin Carroll, Jake McCarthy, and Alek Thomas receiving most of the attention. Over the past two weeks, the young outfielder who has impressed the most has been Dominic Fletcher. Once again he turned in a spectacular performance at the plate and in the field in a 7-2 win over the San Francisco Giants. His over-the-shoulder catch in the first inning prevented the Giants from having a big inning and allowed Zac Gallen to settle in. At the plate he delivered the two biggest hits of the night, a bases-clearing triple in the sixth against a left-handed reliever that gave Arizona the lead and a two-run homer in the eighth that iced it.
"He's in a great spot," D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said of his rookie outfielder. "He carried us today with five RBIs. That's what everyone works for. He's probably watched a couple of his teammates, Corbin, Alek, and Jake last year getting this opportunity. He's been dreaming about it for a long time and he's making the most of every game and every at-bat. That's what we love about him."
Every time the D-backs needed a big hit in this series, Fletcher has delivered. In this series he is 8-for-12 with a double, triple, two home runs, and driven in 11 runs. He has five of the team's eight hits with runners in scoring position in the first three games of the series. In his first 12 major league games, he's 18-for-39 at the plate with six extra base hits and a 1.232 OPS. According to Stathead those 18 hits in his first 12 games is tied for 18th place All-Time, tying notable players such as Albert Pujols, Andrew McCutchen, and Kyle Schwarber.
At a time where the team is struggling to hit with runners in scoring position, Fletcher has been able to pick up his teammates. Twice tonight Evan Longoria struck out with runners in scoring position, but it didn't matter as the D-backs rookie delivered the two biggest hits of the night afterwards.
"One thing we talked about in Spring Training, at the most crucial time of the game be ready to impact it," said Lovullo. "When you're prepping in Spring Training, you're not just taking swings, you're focusing on how I can get the job done at the most critical time of the game. Some guys are good at it, some guys can slow the game down. He's got the right heart beat. He comes up there and he's ready to go."
Zac Gallen's command was not as sharp as usual, but he was able to provide 7.2 strong innings on the mound on a night the team really needed it. Gallen allowed two runs on five hits, two walks, and struck out six. He was able to jump ahead of Giants hitters, throwing first-pitch strikes to 22 of the 29 hitters faced. With the bullpen a little bit tired from having to cover 4.1 innings last night, Gallen took it upon himself to go as deep as he could tonight.
The defense supported their ace, making three more impressive stops to prevent the Giants from scoring more runs in this game. Ketel Marte made two diving stops up the middle, the first taking away a base hit with a runner in scoring position and the latter preventing the Giants from building a big inning in the eighth. Christian Walker also made a diving stop with a runner at second that stranded a runner Gallen left on base. Marte also came all the way around to score from second on a wild pitch, a heads up aggressive base running play.
The D-backs will go for the series win tomorrow, sending rookie right-hander Brandon Pfaadt out to the mound. Pfaadt will be looking to shake off two rough starts to begin his career. The Giants will counter by sending their ace, Logan Webb, to try to force a series split. Tomorrow's game will begin at 1:10 PM at Chase Field.
