Zac Gallen Embraces the Stopper Role
What is a stopper? A stopper can be a pitcher who consistently stops a losing streak. He stops the momentum of the other team. Stops them in their tracks. Shuts them down and makes a statement in the process. Called upon to do just those things tonight, Zac Gallen was all those things and more, leading the Diamondbacks to a 9-0 victory over the Padres.
The Diamondbacks ace put on a masterful performance throwing seven shut out innings on just two hits, no walks and 11 strikeouts. He ran his current scoreless streak to 21.2 innings and is almost halfway to the franchise scoreless streak he set last year of 44.1 innings. Gallen has embraced the role of stopper and talked about how his manager Torey Lovullo challenged him to take on that role last year.
"It wasn't something I really thought about until last year, just having a talk with Torey. He said, this is what the elite level guys in baseball do. They're the stopper in terms of your team is on the skid, or you're facing a team that's hot. He [Lovullo] challenged me to go out there and take that role."
Last Sunday in Miami the Diamondbacks had dropped two in a row and were facing 2023 Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara. Gallen took it upon himself to stop that slide and turn things around. Then after a tough loss against the Padres last night, the team's second in a row, he knew he had to stop the losing streaking again and get the team back on the winning track.
Gallen was dominating from the outset, setting the tone for the game by striking out Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado while retiring the side in order in the first. That was something he would do four more times. In fact he's retired the side in order more than any pitcher in MLB. Despite giving up a leadoff double to Xander Bogaerts in the second inning he retired the next three with two more strikeouts. Gallen just got stronger as the game went on, the only other baserunner he allowed being a harmless single by Tatis with two outs in the sixth inning.
It was somewhat shocking to hear Gallen speak after the game about feeling relief and feeling like he was grinding with his delivery prior to the start. But the perfectionist is constantly working on improvements. He spoke about going back to an older style of cleat he used last year that helped him stop from spinning out on his toe. It's the little details like this that Gallen constantly works on to gain every possible edge. You can listen to him speak about all the other things he is working on in the audio link at the bottom of the article.
When he came out after seven innings the game it was still close. Padres starter Seth Lugo went six innings, allowing two runs on six hits. It looked like the game might come down to the bullpen needing to lock things up. Miguel Castro threw a scoreless top of the eighth, continuing his impressive work since coming to Arizona. But then in the bottom half of the inning the offense broke out with seven runs on six hits and two walks against the Padres bullpen to blow open the game.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. drove in the first run with a sharp ground ball single through the hole into left field. He was rewarded after hitting three balls extremely hard, all for outs earlier in the game. He had hit balls of 96, 102, and 98 MPH off the bat only to record two line outs and deep fly out. The base hit was the hardest hit ball of all, with a 104 MPH exit velocity.
Two batters later Gabriel Moreno singled home two more runs with a base hit to center. The pitch was low and away but he just poked his bat out and got enough barrel on the ball to get it in the air and over the infield into shallow center. It was Moreno's third hit and third RBI of the game. He had previously driven in a run with hustle infield single, just beating the throw. Both Lovullo and Gallen praised the young catcher. He had been working hard in the cages with the coaches and has also developed a good relationship with the ace of the staff.
Geraldo Perdomo had a two-run double in the inning, his second hit of the night. He is batting an even .400 on the young season. Ketel Marte had a three-hit night, driving in a run with a double in the gap in the 6th inning and an RBI single in the 8th to close out the scoring. Marte raised his batting average to .284 after a slow start to the season. Every Diamondback hitter reached base at least once by either a hit or a walk and scored a run.
The D-backs upped their record to 12-9 and increased their lead over the Dodgers in the NL West to two full games after L.A. was shutout by the Cubs 13-0 today. Game three of this four game series starts tomorrow night at 5:10 P.M. Joe Musgrove gets the ball for San Diego while Merrill Kelly makes his fifth start for Arizona. One piece of intrigue to watch over the remaining two games is the D-backs have been pitching Tatis up and in for the previous two games, brushing him back and buzzing his tower four times in all. Don't be surprised if things get chippy going forward.
It's Zac Gallen bobblehead night and fans are advise to arrive early if going to the game.
Listen to Lovullo and Gallen talk about the game down below:
