Zac Gallen Throws Complete Game Shutout Against Cubs

When Torey Lovullo went up to talk to Zac Gallen after the 8th inning they had a conversation about the 9th. Lovullo's game plan was to allow Gallen three hitters to try to complete his first ever nine inning complete game shutout. Gallen, in no uncertain terms said he felt fine, and basically asked the manager to get out of his way. Gallen issued a one out walk in the 9th and then got a one pitch fly out from Nico Hoerner. He said he was thinking "you better not come not come out here for this fourth hitter". Lovullo stayed in the dugout, and Gallen induced a game ending ground out to seal the 1-0 Diamondbacks victory over the Cubs.

It was a classic pitcher's duel on a cool, cloudy day in Wrigley Field with the wind blowing in. Cubs starter Jameson Taillon was on his game, throwing 5.2 hitless innings before giving up a base hit to Corbin Carroll with two outs in the 6th. Taillon gave up just he one hit, and one walk, also to Carroll and struck out nine. The D-backs simply could not touch him, as he had command of his fastball and a great curveball going. For some reason David Ross went to his bullpen to start the 7th, with Taillon at just 77 pitches.

Gallen matched Taillon early throwing 4.1 hitless innings of his own before giving up a one out single in the 5th to Seya Suzuki. That runner was eliminated by Gabriel Moreno who caught Suzuki trying to steal. Gallen gave up just two more singles, one in the 7th and one in the 8th. Once again Moreno threw out a would be base stealer, getting Jeimer Candelario in 8th. Moreno has now caught 21 of 49 base stealers for a league leading 43% rate.

The D-backs managed their lone run in the 8th against the Cubs bullpen. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. led off with a single, and moved up to second on a walk to Moreno. Strikeouts by Jordan Lawlar and Geraldo Perdomo followed bringing up Carroll. The rookie outfield hit a sinking line drive to right that originally appeared to have been caught by Suzuki, but the out call was overturned on replay review, and Gurriel was awarded home for the only run of the game. Lovullo joked after the game "It was as close as it gets, and that's why I love the replay"

With Paul Sewald warming in the pen Gallen made the run stand up while completing the best game of his career. It was the first time Gallen had ever thrown a pitch in the 9th inning of a major league game. His final line was 9 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1BB, 9K, 1HBP. He threw 107 pitches, 71 for strikes.

Lovullo echoed the same story Gallen told about the 9th inning conversation. "There's times when the manager really just needs to get out of the way." Once Gallen got Hoerner to fly out Gallen was showing showing his manager that it was his game to finish. "I could see that he was emptying his tank. All of his stuff was spiking up. The fastball went from 92-93 to 94-95. I knew that he had that under control.

With the victory Gallen puts himself right back into the Cy Young discussion. His record improved to 15-7 and his ERA came down to 3.31. He likely has at least three, and perhaps four more starts this season. More importantly however the D-backs move to within two games of the Cubs for the second Wild Card spot and as of this writing are 1.0 full game up on the Reds and Marlins for the 3rd wild card. Both those teams play later tonight.

Another note on this game, Carroll had two hits, a walk, and three stolen bases. He now has 45 steals and 24 homers. Only 10 other players in major league history have reached those levels in the two categories, and only one of them was a rookie, Mike Trout in 2012.

Zac Gallen, Corbin Carroll, and Gabriel Moreno Highlights from 1-0 victory over Cubs https://t.co/mD9k8aQnCl #MLBFilmRoom via @MLB
— Jack Sommers (@shoewizard59) September 8, 2023

Game three of this four game series resumes tomorrow at Wrigley Field, first pitch at 11:20 A.M. Arizona time. Merrill Kelly will take on the Cubs Cy Young candidate Justin Steele.