Zac Gallen Aims to Rebound From Poor Game 1 Start

Gallen got tagged for five runs in Game 1 in Philadelphia, but he'll have the chance to pitch in front his home crowd.

Four games into the National League Championship Series, the series is tied 2-2. The Diamondbacks fell behind 2-0 after looking overmatched against the Philadelphia Phillies in the first two games of the series, but they've rallied for back-to-back wins in their final at-bat. With their ace, Zac Gallen, taking the mound in Game 5, the D-backs have a chance to take their first lead of the series at home. 

Gallen aims to rebound from a poor start in Game 1, in which the Phillies ambushed him for a pair of first-pitch home runs in the first inning then never let him settle in. Every mislocated fastball got barreled up, including three home runs to the first seven batters. Philadelphia scored in four of the five innings that Gallen pitched, cruising to a 5-3 win. Instead of dealing with the hostile crowd at Citizen's Bank Park, he'll have a sellout crowd of 47,000+ fans behind him at Chase Field. 

"To have the city behind you, have almost 50,000 people there yesterday, I imagine it will be pretty close today. Yeah, it's been awesome because there's been some dark times here and some less than favorable crowds for sure. So to see it kind of turn in our favor has been awesome."

In a deep postseason run, workload can become an issue for starting pitchers. With 226 innings pitched over 37 regular and postseason starts, by far the most number of innings he's pitched in a single season his career, the question is how much does Gallen have left in the tank.

"Honestly, I feel really good. I threw a 35-pitch bullpen the other day. I know probably the older I get and the more experience I'll get in this whole playoff thing and deeper seasons, you know, maybe that changes. But for me I'm still just trying to get better."

The D-backs will need their ace to put up a strong start in Game 5, possibly needing to get at least 18 outs tonight, to give an exhausted bullpen that had to pitch all of Game 4 a breather.