The surging Arizona Diamondbacks have yet to lose a start made by ace Zac Gallen since the All-Star break.
That might not bode well for the American League-leading Cleveland Guardians, who have momentarily cooled off after their own run of extended success.
Gallen will strive to help the visiting Diamondbacks to a 10th victory in 12 games and hand the Guardians a third consecutive loss Monday night.
Arizona overcame a four-run hole Sunday at Pittsburgh to win 6-5 and take the three-game set. Joc Pederson clubbed a go-ahead three-run homer in the seventh for the Diamondbacks, who have gone 15-5 since July 10 to make themselves a serious wild-card contender.
“It shows what we have in (this) group,” Pederson, who is batting .381 with four homers and 10 RBIs in his past eight games, told the Diamondbacks’ broadcast.
“It was a good series win and we’ve got to take that (momentum) into another good team in Cleveland.”
Gallen (9-5, 3.56 ERA), meanwhile, went 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA in his first three starts of July. But, out of the All-Star break, he owns a 2.12 ERA while winning all three starts. The right-hander gave up one run and six hits while walking one batter and striking out six over six innings of the Diamondbacks’ 5-4 victory against Washington on Wednesday.
“I felt like I had everything working, which has been a long time coming,” Gallen said after his most recent outing.
“I felt like I was in control from pitch one to 90. I’ll take it.”
Gallen is 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA in two starts versus Cleveland, which came in 2022 and 2023. In the Diamondbacks’ 5-1 home victory over the Guardians on June 16, 2023, Gallen allowed six hits, including a homer to Jose Ramirez, and fanned seven without a walk in seven innings.
Ramirez is batting .391 with five homers and 11 RBIs in his past six games. He had two hits Sunday, but Cleveland dropped its second straight, 9-5 to Baltimore and split that four-game home set among AL pennant contenders.
The Guardians had won five straight and eight of 10 prior to those back-to-back defeats.
With Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee bothered by a shoulder issue and recently acquired Alex Cobb apparently still not ready to make his 2024 debut, Logan Allen (8-4, 5.67) will return to the majors to start this series opener.
Allen ranks third on the team in victories, but recorded just five quality starts while allowing 18 homers and 35 walks in the 18 starts he made before being sent down to Triple-A Columbus on July 7.
The left-hander allowed 11 runs and 18 hits in 11 2/3 innings while going 0-1 during his last three major league starts. Allen was 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA and 12 strikeouts in three starts since his demotion to Columbus.
“It was tough,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said of Allen being sent down to Triple-A. “Logan is such a big part of our success.”
Allen, who turns 26 in September, has never faced the Diamondbacks. However, Arizona’s Josh Bell, a former Guardian, has homered against him.
–Field Level Media
