Zac Gallen Outduels Tarik Skubal to Deliver Massive Sweep vs Tigers

Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen needed to bounce back from a rough start against the Los Angeles Dodgers on opening day.

He did just that on Wednesday, going toe-to-toe with Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal to help lead Arizona to a 1-0 victory.

Gallen gave up a bit of hard contact early in the contest, but was able to settle in to an extremely strong performance, delivering six scoreless frames with four hits, no walks and two strikeouts.

Skubal went one inning longer than Gallen, and had one more strikeout, but the former AL Cy Young winner gave up two more hits and a run — an opposite-field solo homer off the bat of Corbin Carroll in the first inning. Carroll became just the sixth left-handed batter to go deep off the Tigers ace.

Though the two punchouts is a low number for a pitcher like Gallen, he was able to pitch to contact in an effective manner. He picked up six whiffs, but landed 12 pitches in the zone for called strikes. His four-seam fastball averaged 94 MPH, and looked to be dialed in — a necessary factor for Gallen to remain effective.

Gallen gave up a leadoff triple in the sixth inning, but got out of it on a heads-up defensive play by newest infielder Jose Fernandez. Fernandez, playing first base for the first time this season, caught a line drive, then fired to third base for an inning-ending forceout before the runner could return.

Jose Fernandez can play defense, too. pic.twitter.com/PhAoEi9UP8
— Alex D’Agostino (@AlexDagAZ) April 1, 2026

"If you're a baseball purist, you gotta love this type of game, right?" manager Torey Lovullo said postgame. "You've got two elite starting pitchers that are just going toe-to-toe with one another."

"We knew that it was going to be a little bit of a dogfight. I'm just really proud of the way we continue to fight. There were some situations where we could have let these things slip away from us and then we turn it over to our pitching and defense.

"Those are the things that were built on, the pitching and defense. That's music to my ears. And clearly we're going to have days like this when you run into somebody like Skubal that's going to be able to throw up as many zeroes as he did. But overall, great series, great series," Lovullo said.

Diamondbacks hold on for sweep of Tigers

Apr 1, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll rounds the bases after hitting a home run in the first inning against the Detroit Tigers at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Carroll's solo homer was, somehow, the only run Arizona would need. The D-backs' lineup three times erased baserunners against Skubal with ill-timed ground ball double plays.

But Arizona's bullpen, which has been an area of significant weakness — as fans well know — turned in its second straight shutout performance to secure the series sweep.

Right-handers Taylor Clarke, Juan Morillo and Jonathan Loaisiga each pitched a scoreless frame. Loaisiga ran into some base traffic, but avoided disaster with a double play ball and a weak comebacker.

With Paul Sewald down after securing back-to-back ninth innings, Loaisiga becomes the second Arizona hurler to record a successful save on the young season. Arizona is 3-3, and playing a very familiar brand of baseball.

"I feel like we're just playing the game the right way," Carroll said to the D-backs.TV broadcast postgame. "Taking what's given to us, making the routine play... I really like what I saw in LA. This is a good ball club, and we're gonna continue to show that."