The Arizona Diamondbacks hope August inconsistency can be turned into September and October consistency when they send ace Zac Gallen to face the San Francisco Giants in the second contest of their three-game series Wednesday night.
Struggling to retain their National League wild-card playoff position, the Diamondbacks nearly blew a late five-run lead in Tuesday’s series opener in San Francisco but held on for an 8-7 victory.
Wins by the Diamondbacks (78-61) and Atlanta Braves (75-63) allowed each to gain a half-game on the NL wild-card-leading San Diego Padres (79-61), who were idle Tuesday. Arizona currently holds the second spot.
Coming off a wild home series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in which they gave up a total of 32 runs in losing three of four games, the Diamondbacks got an encouraging start from Ryne Nelson in the series opener against the Giants. He worked into the seventh inning before leaving with a 7-2 lead.
Arizona hopes for more of the same from Gallen (10-6, 3.87 ERA), who has alternated subpar and efficient outings in his past nine starts. The stretch includes five starts in which he’s been drilled for 24 runs (23 earned) in 26 2/3 innings, interspersed with four appearances in which he limited the opposition to a total of two runs over 21 1/3 innings.
The right-hander is coming off one of the poorer efforts, roughed up for five runs in five innings in a 10-9 loss to the Dodgers last Friday.
Gallen isn’t the only Diamondbacks starter not pitching at a postseason level, but manager Torey Lovullo said there’s still time to get on a roll.
“I believe in our staff,” he said. “I trust our guys to perform when it matters most.”
Gallen was on the short end of a 7-3 loss at San Francisco in his most recent visit in April, serving up five runs in five innings. The defeat dropped the 29-year-old right-hander to 4-5 with a 4.44 ERA in 14 lifetime starts against the Giants.
The 2023 All-Star will see a Giants (68-71) team that hasn’t formally raised the white flag on the season, but nonetheless sent out a youthful lineup Tuesday night that resembled that of a team out of contention.
Among the bats inserted were those of Marco Luciano and Luis Matos, who were called up from the minors when rosters expanded by two this month.
Luciano and Matos came to bat in crucial situations during the Giants’ comeback effort. Luciano came through with a two-out single in the eighth that got San Francisco within 7-6 before Matos struck out to end the inning.
“They’re here for a reason now, so they’re going to get some at-bats,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said of having Luciano and Matos in a game with playoff implications. The loss dropped the Giants 7 1/2 games out of the final wild-card spot in the NL, with four teams ahead of them.
“We’re looking toward next year and what the roster construction’s going to look like then,” he continued. “These are some of our best prospects, and they’re going to get a bit of a look right now.”
Another of those prospects, right-hander Hayden Birdsong (3-4, 5.14), will get the start in the rematch. The Giants went winless in his five August outings, during which he had an 0-4 record and 8.68 ERA.
The 23-year-old rookie never has faced the Diamondbacks.
-Field Level Media
