Diamondbacks player Merrill Kelly on his performance against the Giants
Merrill Kelly allowed two runs in seven innings against the Giants, his best outing since returning from the injured list last month.
For the Arizona Diamondbacks, the final three weeks of the regular season are not only about securing a spot in the playoffs, but also about getting as many parts of their roster as possible up to speed for October.
So Tuesday night was a resounding success. Not only did they beat the Texas Rangers 6-0, but they did so thanks to a two-homer night from Christian Walker and another strong start from right-hander Zac Gallen.
It was Walker’s first major impact game since returning last week from a month on the injured list because of a strained left oblique muscle.
For most of the past few seasons, Walker has been a rock of consistency at the heart of the Diamondbacks’ lineup, a source of quality at-bats and raw power. He also brings top-notch defense at first base. It seems like it only took him a half-dozen games to find his rhythm.
In his first five games since his return, all of which came on the previous road trip, he managed just 3 for 15 with a double and two walks. But on Tuesday, he hit home runs in each of his first two appearances against Rangers right-hander Nathan Eovaldi.
Both hits went to opposite field and barely cleared the right-hand wall. In the first inning, he followed Joc Pederson’s home run by smashing a 95 mph fastball to the outside half. In the third inning, he hit a slider down and away and made it. He hadn’t hit a home run since July 24, four days before he injured his oblique.
Gallen pitched five scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and two walks and seven strikeouts. It was his second strong performance in as many games and his third in the last four.
Although Gallen wasn’t at his best – he didn’t last long due to a pitch count of 94 – the Rangers only managed to hit three balls from him that were 95 mph or faster and didn’t hit the ground.
He seemed to be in control of nearly every at-bat, throwing strikes on the first pitch to 16 of the 19 batters he faced and throwing strikes on two of the first three pitches of an at-bat — or ending it before three pitches — to 14 of them.
Before these last four starts, Gallen had posted a 5.24 ERA in nine starts, raising doubts about his readiness to lead the team in the postseason. His performance in recent starts has seemingly allayed those concerns.
Walker and Pederson’s home runs in the first inning made it 2-0. Walker’s second hit made it 4-0 in the third. Arizona added two more in the eighth inning, with two scoring doubles by Pavin Smith and Jose Herrera.
The club’s frontline relief pitchers also turned in impressive nights. Right-handers Kevin Ginkel and Ryan Thompson threw scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh innings, left-hander AJ Puk struck out the team in the eighth, his last impressive inning, and right-hander Justin Martinez struck out two players in a clean ninth inning.
—Nick Piecoro
Zac Gallen leaves the field after 5 scoreless innings
Right-hander Zac Gallen delivered his second strong performance in a row on Tuesday night, recording seven strikeouts, but was eliminated after just five innings in his start against the Texas Rangers due to a high pitch count.
The Arizona Diamondbacks led the Rangers 4-0 when play resumed in the sixth inning at Chase Field.
Gallen, who gave the Diamondbacks six hitless innings last week in San Francisco, allowed just two hits and two walks in five scoreless innings against the Rangers. Rangers batters had plenty of hits against him for most of the night, but only hit a handful of balls hard against him.
Gallen was replaced by reliever Kevin Ginkel, who allowed an infield single and a walk in the scoreless sixth inning.
—Nick Piecoro
Christian Walker’s 2 home runs give him a decisive 4-run lead against Texas Rangers
The Arizona Diamondbacks lead the Texas Rangers 4-0 after three innings at Chase Field on Tuesday night, thanks to two solo home runs by Joc Pederson and Christian Walker in the first inning and Walker’s second of the night in the third.
Pederson has shown a flair for the dramatic high fly ball/moon hit to left center field – which was his 22nd home run of the season.
Walker’s hit was more of a line drive, it whizzed over the fence in right field, and in the third inning he hit a similar-looking home run, his 24th of the season.
Walker’s second home run was a two-run shot after Pederson walked with one out.
All three home runs were scored by Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi, who started for Texas in Game 5 of last season’s World Series at Chase Field. Eovaldi won the game after pitching six innings and allowing no runs on four hits.
—Jose M. Romero
Diamondbacks celebrate Suns and Mercury
Tuesday night was declared Suns and Mercury Night at Chase Field, and in honor of the occasion, Mercury player Natasha Mack and Suns player Monté Morris threw out the ceremonial first pitches before the Diamondbacks’ game against the Texas Rangers.
The players, as well as Scorch, the Mercury mascot, and The Gorilla, the Suns mascot, joined in the festivities. Morris signed with the Suns in July and Mack is in her first season with the Mercury.
“I love days like this. I love going out and supporting the other teams in this community,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said before the game. Wearing a Mercury shirt, he said he texted Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon to wish him luck before the Cardinals opened the season in Buffalo on Sunday.
“I love being connected in this way. I think it’s important that we all support each other, and this is a great day, right?” Lovullo added. “It’s the Phoenix Suns and the Phoenix Mercury, and the fact that we get a lot of support from them and enjoy doing it in their arena as well makes me very happy. I just believe in that continuity in the community.”
—Jose M. Romero
Update on injury status of Dbacks’ Moreno, Gurriel
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo provided updates on the injuries to catcher Gabriel Moreno and outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. ahead of Tuesday’s series opener against the Texas Rangers at Chase Field.
Moreno, who has been on the 10-day injured list since Aug. 6 with a left adductor strain, runs arcs and turns at 80 percent speed and will be at Chase Field on Wednesday to bat against a Trajekt pitching robot and work a bullpen session.
Gurriel will also be taking the Trajekt machine on Wednesday. He has been on the 10-day injured list since September 3rd due to a left calf injury. Gurriel is expected to start running on Thursday.
“These are the official plans,” said Lovullo. “I am firmly convinced that we will implement them. Both are very good signs for their hopefully imminent return.”
Lovullo said Gurriel likely won’t be ready to return from the injured list on Friday, the first day he’s eligible to play.
Ketel Marte started at second base on Tuesday, the first time he played in the field since coming off the injured list on Friday.
—Jose M. Romero
Pavin Smith of the DBacks is still in top form after a game with 3 home runs
Pavin Smith was still reveling in the glory of his performance Sunday night, when he hit three home runs against the Houston Astros in a nationally televised game.
“It definitely feels like a once in a lifetime game and something I will remember forever,” Smith said.
Smith noted that he had never had a multiple-home run game in his major league career before Sunday, when he hit a three-run home run in the second inning, a grand slam in the third and a solo home run in the fifth. The first two home runs were hit by Astros right-hander Justin Verlander, a likely Hall of Fame inductee.
“Hitting the second one was pretty cool,” Smith said. “Then when the third came, it was crazy. I knew I had two more at-bats to hit a fourth one, and obviously I didn’t get it done. I definitely tried.”
Smith had a strikeout in the seventh inning and a walk in the ninth.
“I talked to their first-base coach,” Smith said. “I said, ‘You guys really had to bring in (left-handed reliever Josh) Hader in the ninth inning, trailing by seven? You don’t want me to hit my fourth home run that badly, do you?'”
—Nick Piecoro
Pitching duel Diamondbacks-Rangers on Wednesday
Rangers at Diamondbacks, 12:40 p.m., Cox, Chapter 34
Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (4-0, 4.08) vs. Rangers LHP Cody Bradford (5-2, 3.05).
At Chase Field: Kelly is off to his best start yet since returning from the injured list last month, allowing just two runs in seven innings in a win over the Giants last week in San Francisco. Before that, he had posted a 6.75 ERA in four starts. … Kelly will face a Rangers team he shut out in Game 2 of the World Series last year, a start in which he allowed just one run in seven innings, with no walks and nine strikeouts. … Bradford, in his second major league season, allowed just one run in six innings in his last start against the Angels. In his last six games, he has a 2.43 ERA, with six walks and 32 strikeouts in 37 innings. … He has a four-pitch mix, starting with a four-seam fastball that averages just 89.8 mph. He also throws a change-up, a curveball and a slider, missing 35.5 percent of his swings against his change-up.
Soon
Thursday: Out of.
Friday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (9-8, 4.42) vs. Brewers RHP Tobias Myers (7-5, 2.93).
Saturday: At Chase Field, 5:10 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (2-2, 5.83) vs. Brewers RHP Freddy Peralta (10-8, 3.81).
Sunday: At Chase Field, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (10-6, 4.33) vs. Brewers RHP Aaron Civale (5-8, 4.62).
