Zac Gallen answered the call for the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night, lifting them to a 7-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
In the final series before the All-Star break, Arizona’s newly named All-Stars made an impact, and put a halt to their four-game skid, that included a lopsided loss to complete being swept by the New York Mets on Thursday.
Gallen got some help from his fellow all-star teammates early in the third inning, when Corbin Carroll singled, scoring Jake McCarthy.
A few pitches later, Rich Hill left his patented curveball up and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a three-run home run, giving the D-backs a commanding 4-0 lead.
It was all Gallen needed to get comfortable, as he was in cruise control from this point on, giving up three hits in his final four frames of work.
An inning later, Gurriel Jr. added one of his two doubles to deep left center field, scoring Jake McCarthy to grow the Arizona lead to 5-0.
Pittsburgh and Carlos Santana were able to muster a run in the fifth and two in the eighth inning, but it didn’t take away from Gallen’s stellar performance.
The Diamondbacks will have four players representing the National League on Tuesday in the MLB All-Star Game. This will be the seventh time that Arizona has had three or more All-Stars and the third time they have had four.
Corbin Carroll (1st selection and starter), Zac Gallen (1st selection and potential starter), Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (1st selection) and newly instated Geraldo Perdomo (1st selection), will replace Dansby Swanson who recently got hurt with a left heel contusion.
“It’s such a great story. He is ours. He came through our system. He’s developed, after doing what he did last year. He was frustrated and said ‘I’m never going to let that happen again,’” said Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo pregame on Perdomo’s all-star selection.
Gallen tossed seven strong innings, giving up one earned run, while striking out five with no walks.
The starter for the National League has not yet been announced, but Lovullo made his case for Gallen to be the starter Tuesday night.
“Everytime he goes out there he’s going to give us quality effort and this will be his last start before the all-star game”, Lovullo told reporters after the game. “I think there should be some strong consideration. He deserves it.”
After tonight’s outing, Gallen improves to 11-3 while holding a 3.04 ERA. He is also 9-0 at Chase Field with a 1.48 ERA, ranked second in the NL.
The win improves the Diamondback’s record to 51-38 on the season.
Arizona completes their series with Pittsburgh and closes out the first half of the season with a pair of day-games at Chase Field this weekend.
Mitch Keller (9-4 3.52 ERA) will get the start for the Pirates on Saturday.
Arizona was yet to name a starter at time of publishing.
