Gallen Dominates Brewers with Curveball in 3-0 D-backs Win

Zac Gallen seemed like he was struggling. After a 12 pitch first inning in which he retired the side in order, he seemed to lose the strike zone in the bottom of the second. Going to a three ball count to each of the first three batters he wasn't quite locating his curveball. A base hit by William Contreras on a 3-2 count was followed by a strikeout looking, also on a full count. He then walked Brian Anderson, and with Luke Voit at the plate spiked a curve in the dirt that Gabriel Moreno was unable to block for a wild pitch.

And then suddenly he found it. Back to back swinging strikeouts of Voit, and Brice Turang, both on curveballs, and Gallen was on his way and never looked back. Setting a career high with 40 curveballs among his 96 pitches, he allowed just two more singles the rest of the way and struck out 11 batters in all through seven scoreless innings as the D-backs defeated the Brewers 3-0.

Asked after the game if he felt like he flipped a switch during that second inning, he said not really. "There wasn't necessarily one key moment where it just switched. I just knew in that part of the lineup it was probably my best pitch."

From there he felt that the Brewers would have to respect the curveball and he was able to locate it and throw it down for a lot of swing and miss.

Sporting a "Don't Trip" cap during the interview, it served as a reminder to Gallen not to let the first couple of rough starts to the season bother him. "I was just taking that as take a deep breath, relax, don't trip. It's kinda been my hat recently, but yeah, that was for everyone"

Be sure to listen to the full eight minute conversation with Gallen in the link below, as he shared a lot of information about what was going through his mind and how he was working to shape his pitches today.

The D-backs scored run in the bottom of the first inning when Ketel Marte led off with his 6th double of the year, a sharp ground ball just inside the first base bag and into the opposite field corner. He came home to score on a Josh Rojas base hit. Brewers starter Wade Miley settled down after that until the fifth inning when Christian Walker tagged him for a two-out, two-run opposite field homer.

C-Walk homers gave #Dbacks a 3-0 lead

pic.twitter.com/WQCvllyprb
— Jack Sommers (@shoewizard59) April 11, 2023

Walker had been struggling a bit to start the season but manager Torey Lovullo was quick to praise his first baseman. "He just can impact the game at any time, he's always one swing away for me, he's got a beautiful swing and a beautiful approach and he's always close, even when he misses.

That was all the scoring for night, as both team's bullpens shut it down from there. Scott McGough worked a scoreless 8th, retiring the side in order, and Andrew Chafin did him one better, striking out the side in the 9th while picking up his second save.

It was the first team shutout of the year, and the first since September 15th of last year. The D-backs pitchers struck out a season high 15 and the team improved to 7-4. They are alone in first place in the NL West.

The game took just 2:12 to complete. There were two pitch timer violations, both going against the Brewers. Miley was called for a quick pitch in the fourth inning, beginning his delivery before Evan Longoria had a chance to get set in the box. Charged a ball, Miley ended up walking Longoria. Rowdy Telez was penalized a strike, which was strike three, for not being ready and alert to Gallen while leading off the 7th inning.

While he didn't figure in the scoring, Nick Ahmed had a three hit night with a single to center, a hustle double in the gap, and a bunt base hit. His defense was on point all night as usual. The platoon of Ahmed and Geraldo Perdomo, who came into the night leading the NL in WAR, has worked out perfectly for the team so far in 2023.

The only downside of the evening for Arizona was their 1-for-10 batting with runners in scoring position. But on this night of dominant pitching, it didn't matter as the first inning run would have been enough.

Tuesday night Merrill Kelly gets the start for the D-backs, and Corbin Burnes goes for the Brewers. Game time is 6:40 P.M. MST