SAN FRANCISCO – Arizona Diamondbacks point guard Zac Gallen threw six hitless innings against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on Wednesday, even though his pitch count did not allow him to attempt a no-hitter.
Gallen threw 100 pitches and Arizona started the seventh inning with Kevin Ginkel. The no-hit attempt ended right there when San Francisco shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald hit a single up the middle after Ginkel’s second pitch.
Gallen was unable to get deeper into the game because he was given four walks, including three in a row against the bottom of the Giants’ order in the second inning. Those four counts were perfect, totaling 31 pitches.
Zac Gallen records his 8th strikeout of the game with his 100th pitch.
Oh, by the way, he didn’t allow a single hit in six innings 😳 pic.twitter.com/5wyJkCcJmq
— MLB (@MLB) 5 September 2024
After the three walks, Gallen had Giants catcher Curt Casali again in a 3-2 count, but struck him out with a curveball outside the zone.
From there, Gallen struck out four of the next six batters, striking out nine in a row before allowing a walk to Mike Yastrzemski in the sixth inning. Yastrzemski was quickly swept off the plate by a double play ball, and Gallen struck out Michael Conforto with a high cheddar to end his appearance.
When Ginkel entered the game, the Diamondbacks already led 4-0, although San Francisco’s LaMonte Wade Jr. hit a two-run home run that bounced off Ginkel into McCovey Cove, ending the shutout.
Outside of the 33-pitch second inning, Gallen used his large arsenal efficiently to miss barrels. Gallen struck out the team in the fourth inning, retiring batters with the slider, changeup and fastball.
He increased his use of changeups and curveballs, which led to swing-and-miss hits and kept the ball out of play. The Giants managed only four hard-hit balls (over 95 mph) against Gallen, one of which was the double-play grounder.
Wednesday marked the first hitless start of Gallen’s career (major or minor leagues) since 2016. This season, he had two six-inning, one-hit starts (May 7 at Cincinnati, June 29 against Oakland).
Zac Gallen, nasty 83 mph knuckle curve. 🔨 pic.twitter.com/PKqINTyyEO
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) 5 September 2024
Gallen has thrown six scoreless innings (with four walks) in two of his last three starts, beginning on Aug. 24 at Fenway Park against the Red Sox. Between those two outings, he allowed five earned runs against the Los Angeles Dodgers as Gallen has failed to produce consistent results for much of the second half of this season.
Gallen’s ERA since July 4 before Wednesday’s start was 5.02, albeit with a FIP of 3.65. Arizona still won seven of its last 11 pitching games.
His ERA dropped from 3.87 to 3.69 this season.
