Diamondbacks Storm Back in Massive Comeback Win Over Giants

The Arizona Diamondbacks overcame a large early deficit to beat the San Francisco Giants 8-7 at Scottsdale Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Utility infielder Jacob Amaya had the biggest hits, including a grand slam in the sixth inning and a game-tying single in the seventh. The D-backs had trailed 2-0 and 7-2 in the game prior to that.

Amaya is a non-roster invitee vying for one of the last spots on the bench. The former Chicago White Sox infielder is mostly in competition with Ildemaro Vargas as a shortstop-capable backup.

Angel Ortiz hit the go-ahead and ultimately game-winning homer in the eighth inning. Luken Baker put the first runs on the board for Arizona with a two-run opposite field blast in the fourth.

Zac Gallen Hit Hard While Working on Pitches

Zac Gallen's outing started with a long double by leadoff batter Jesus Rodriguez, who hit a 108 MPH laser. He was later doubled off third base on a shallow fly to center, getting Gallen out of the inning.

In the second inning a hit batter, fielder's choice and two singles resulted in a run. In his third inning of work Gallen gave up three base hits and a run, and was lifted with his pitch count at 51.

Due to spring training rules he was allowed to come back out for the fourth inning, but gave up a 422-foot homer to right-center by Daniel Susac. That ended his day with four "up-downs" and 55 pitches.

While he got his work in, his line was a subpar 2.2 IP, 7 hits, 3 earned runs, a strikeout and a homer. His fastball averaged 94.8 MPH, topping out above 96 in the first inning, but settling back down as the outing went on. Four of the 13 balls hit in play were over 100 MPH.

After the game, Gallen said he was trying to work on some sinkers and improve the consistency of the changeup shape, experimenting with locations on those pitchers.

Manager Torey Lovullo was satisfied with the outing.

"He was pretty good. Made a lot of good pitches, was aggressive in the zone, got to a certain pitch count, which we were very pleased with. We wanted to let him touch that fourth inning. So overall, the things that we're looking for was fantastic. Not concerned about the results," Lovullo said.

Kevin Ginkel had a subpar outing as well. He faced six batters, allowing three singles and a three-run homer, while recording just two outs. He threw 27 pitches, 17 for strikes.

Ryan Thompson allowed two hits, but got out of the jam. Joe Ross, Juan Morillo, and Logan Mercado combined to close out the last four innings as the offense fought back. There was a runner on third with nobody out in the ninth, but Mercado managed to get out of the jam with a groundout and two strikeouts.

"It was an exciting finish. It got everybody's blood pumping. I think those are good games where you're kind of locked into the moment and start talking about things that we normally won't talk about at this point in the spring," Lovullo said.