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Despite an excellent start from their ace, Zac Gallen, the Diamondbacks dropped the second game of the series against the Detroit Tigers. The big inning came to bite them, as Detroit scored six runs in the top of the seventh to defeat Arizona 8-3 at Chase Field.
“This was a tough loss,” said Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo. “Zac was throwing the ball extremely well. We got into that seventh inning, I like the matchups with Zac at that part of their lineup and they just continued to grind him down. We didn’t execute a lot of different ways, we didn’t make quality pitches and they took advantage of it.”
The game started as a pitchers’ duel between Zac Gallen and Jack Flaherty, who both looked dominant out of the gate. Both pitchers traded zeros for the first five innings, with eight strikeouts apiece.
The Diamondbacks broke through first against Flaherty in the sixth. Kevin Newman led off the inning with a high chopper over third baseman Gio Urshela’s head for an infield single. After a fielder’s choice, Ketel Marte plugged the left-center gap with a triple. The hit not only scored Corbin Carroll from first base but also extended Marte’s hitting streak to a career-high 17 games. Joc Pederson ripped a line drive through a drawn-in infield to make it 2-0.
Ketel Marte breaks the seal in this game. This triple extends his hitting streak to a new career-high of 17 games. pic.twitter.com/J6IHJmk4E5
— Michael McDermott (@MichaelMcDMLB) May 19, 2024
The lead wouldn’t last long, as Detroit answered in a big way. Gio Urshela led off the top of the seventh with a double to immediately put pressure on Gallen. After striking out Colt Keith and Spencer Torkelson, he was one pitch away from putting up a zero. Instead, Baez turned on a high fastball to double off the left field wall and Carson Kelly rolled a ground ball through the right side of the infield to tie the game.
The damage did not stop when Gallen left the mound. Joe Mantiply came up against the top of the Tigers’ order and failed to retire any of the four batters faced. Riley Greene doubled and Wenceel Pérez cleared the bases with a triple to give Detroit a 5-2 lead. Justin Martinez walked a hitter and allowed an infield hit before recording the final out of the inning.
It was a disappointing finish to an otherwise excellent start. Gallen was one out away from seven scoreless innings, but couldn’t finish the frame. Instead, it blew up into a big inning on a night where runs were going to be at a premium for both teams.
Arizona attempted to answer in the bottom half of the inning. A single and a walk put two runners on with no outs, but a popout and a ground ball double play scuttled any offensive momentum. They tacked on a run in the eighth inning, but the game had been well out of reach by then.
The Diamondbacks will try to salvage the series finale Sunday afternoon. Left-hander Jordan Montgomery (2-2, 4.76 ERA) will take the mound for Arizona, while Matt Manning (0-1, 4.37 ERA) will pitch for Detroit. First pitch at Chase Field will be at 1:10 PM MST.
More must-reads:
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