Zac Gallen Struggles, Bats Go Quiet in Arizona Loss to Cubs

The Arizona Diamondbacks lost to the Chicago Cubs 6-2 as they lose the series and the season series to Chicago in what could be crucial come playoff time. The loss carries potential implication for NL Wild Card seeding.

It was a rough game in all facets, except perhaps the new-look bullpen, who pitched well over two innings. The hits just never came as they did Friday, while the D-backs fell behind early and just never got back into the game.

It was a tale of two cities for Zac Gallen in this outing. He started off in unusual fashion compared to his career, before rounding into form to do exactly what everyone knows he can do. As such, it truly was a yin and yang performance for the right-hander.

In the first two innings, Gallen struggled to locate his fastball and pitches in general. He walked two and yet struck out four. However, sandwiched around all of those events were three singles, a triple, and two homers. It took him a mammoth 64 pitches to get through the two innings, as he put his team in a 6-1 hole.

"He just couldn't find the zone at the level he's looking to every single time he goes out there. It just took him a little while to find his rhythm and he did," said Torey Lovullo to Jody Jackson on Dbacks.TV postgame show.

Gallen was outstanding over his last four innings to get through six innings. He set down 13 of the last 14 he faced and needed just 39 pitches to get 12 outs.

"That was real impressive," said Lovullo. "I walked by him after the second inning and said just give me two more. I know that motivated him, because I talked to him afterwards, he said I'm going to give you more than that."

While that quieted things down and gave his team a chance to get back in the game, the offense could get nothing going.

As Gallen gutted through it he wound up with a line of seven hits, six runs, two walks, and five strikeouts, ending the game with season ERA of 5.60. However, he induced 10 whiffs, including five on his four-seam fastball. In the end the strong finish will give him some positives and momentum going into his next start versus the Atlanta Braves at home.

However, this five-start stretch for Gallen is now his worst start to the season in his career though there is plenty of time to fix it and the Diamondbacks certainly need him to.

Zac Gallen first five starts per season in career | Jack Sommers

In the seventh inning, Juan Morillo, 26, made his MLB debut and recorded his first career strikeout by punching out Kyle Tucker. It was easy to see why Arizona likes him with his live arm that can easily throw upper 90s or the occasional low 100s.

It appeared he had some rookie debut jitters as he walked the leadoff batter he faced before striking out two and getting a flyout to end the frame. He needed only 20 pitches, with 11 of them landing for strikes. He had four whiffs on ten swings, and his fastball averaged 98.7 MPH.

The offense was equally as cold as the air in Chicago as beyond Corbin Carroll, the D-backs hitters struggled against the Cubs' pitching staff. Despite making starter Ben Brown throw 100 pitches in four innings and working a hit by pitch, four walks, and three hits (all of which were by Carroll), the team just couldn't find the big swing or rally.

The Cubs' bullpen was vastly better than yesterday as they shut down Arizona over the final five frames with no hits allowed.

The first run Arizona scored was via Corbin Carroll's lead-off home run in the first inning. It was his seventh home run this season and extended his on-base and hitting streaks to 21 and 12 respectively.

Tim Tawa homered with two outs in the ninth inning to get Arizona's second run. It was his second homer of his career and went a long distance to the back of the bleachers at Wrigley Field. It was 109 MPH off the bat and traveled 438 feet. In total, Arizona mustered just four hits on the day.

The Diamondbacks will look to salvage the series finale and prevent the sweep on Sunday with first pitch at 11:20 a.m. MST, 1:20 p.m. CST. Merrill Kelly is expected to start on the mound in what could be gloomy and wet conditions against Cubs' starter Jameson Taillon. They'll look to claim a winning record on their road trip before heading home to Chase Field to take on the Rays and Braves.