Dodgers Club Four Homers Against Gallen in 7-4 D-backs Loss

On a hot night in Los Angeles there was no marine layer to knock down deep fly balls and keep them in the stadium. Zac Gallen did not have his good command and he paid the price for mis-located pitches, allowing a career high four homers in 5.1 innings as the Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks 7-4.

The Dodgers jumped on Gallen right out of the gate. Freddie Freeman launched a no doubter home run into the right field bleachers with one out. After a Will Smith single, Max Muncy did the same, and the Dodgers had a 3-0 lead.

Gabriel Moreno had one of the best nights of his young career, delivering a two-out RBI double in the 2nd inning to get Arizona on the board. After Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit an RBI double in the fourth inning, Moreno followed with an opposite field blast for a two-run homer and his 3rd RBI of the night to give the D-backs aa 4-3 lead.

Gabriel Moreno has made it his mission to win this game! pic.twitter.com/dMr7mLsnFK
— Michael McDermott (@MichaelMcD8393) August 29, 2023

Handed that lead, Gallen just wasn't able to lock it in. He issued a couple of two out walks in the fourth, getting out of the inning but running up his pitch count. He issued another walk to start the fifth and gave up a two out single, but once again got out of the inning. He labored through those two innings, pushing his pitch count up to 85 through five. With an an overworked bullpen of late, Torey Lovullo sent him back out for the 6th.

Things went south immediately. David Peralta hit a sharp single and then Jason Heyward smashed a 400 foot home run to right to put LA in front 5-4. James Outman followed Heyward with a solo homer and the Dodgers never looked back. One base hit later and Gallen's night was done. His final line was 5.1 IP, 9 hits, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 4 HR on 101 pitches.

After that three run outburst in the 4th, the Diamondbacks offense was done for the rest of the game too. Dodgers starter Bobby Miller went two more innings to complete six, picking up his 8th win of the year against three losses. The only base hit from the fifth inning on was a 117.1 MPH double down the left field line from Ketel Marte in the 7th. That was the highest exit velocity recorded by a Diamondback this year, and the hardest hit ball at Dodger Stadium as well. Unfortunately he was stranded there, and the Dodgers bullpen closed it out with seven straight outs from there.

Lovullo said after the game, "We had some good moments in this game. We didn't shut down. I just felt like after they hit the two home runs (in the 6th) I just felt the energy in the dugout kind of back up on us a little bit and we never really recovered"

Gallen said he felt good at the beginning of the game, and that was evidenced by his velocity, which was actually up 0.5 MPH on the fastball and 1.5 MPH on the cutter. "I just wasn't able to put guys away, that was the biggest thing", Gallen said. The Freeman homer came on a 1-2 four seamer that didn't get in enough and the slugging first baseman was able to get his barrel to the ball. Muncy's homer was a knuckle curve that just hung in the middle of the plate.

Speaking of his fastball command Gallen said "I think it was solid early, but it was the 5th and 6th it got away from me" Often times he has said he didn't feel his best on nights where he got solid results, but tonight was just the opposite. "I felt solid , which I think is the most unfortunate. Bullpen felt sharp. Playing catch felt sharp. I just didn't execute. It's not like I went into that game feeling like I didn't feel great".

One oddity of this game was that despite holding Mookie Betts hitless with just one walk in five trips to the plate, and Freeman to just the one homer and no other hits, the rest of the Dodgers lineup hammered out 10 hits and six runs.

With the loss Gallen's record goes to 14-6, and his ERA ballooned to 3.32. That is sure to put a dent in his Cy Young chances. More importantly however is the team's grip on the 3rd wild card spot fell to just 0.5 games over the Giants, who won tonight. The D-backs will send Merrill Kelly to the mound tomorrow night to face Clayton Kershaw. Game time is 7:10 P.M.