PHOENIX \u2014 Zac Gallen was one good pitch away from a quality start on Thursday against the Pittsburgh Pirates, which would have been the third straight from the Arizona Diamondbacks\u2019 rotation.<\/p>\n
After a frustrating fifth inning, Gallen had one out to get, but he hung a slider to Joey Bart. The ball just scraped over the left-field wall, giving Pittsburgh a 4-2 lead in a 4-2 series-clinching win at Chase Field.<\/p>\n
For Gallen, Thursday\u2019s game had a mix of promising signs and failures to execute that resulted in an underwhelming six inning-, four-run pitching line.<\/p>\n
The good:<\/p>\n
Gallen drew a season-high 15 whiffs (swings-and-misses), nine with his slider and six with the curveball (none with the fastball), according to Statcast<\/a>. Gallen\u2019s arsenal has changed this year. His curveball does not drop like it used to, and he has replaced<\/a> it as his primary breaking ball with a slider that has been more effective.<\/p>\n Coming into Thursday, Gallen\u2019s overall whiff rate on the year was 16.5%, way below his career and the league\u2019s average (both at 25%). The slider has been his best pitch at missing bats.<\/p>\n He had that pitch working, except for a couple of hangers that he paid for.<\/p>\n Strikeouts in general have been hard to come by, and he matched a season high on Thursday with five.<\/p>\n The not-so-good:<\/p>\n Gallen allowed two solo home runs, which has not been an issue this year. Home runs were a massive problem for him last season, but he entered Thursday having given up two through his first seven starts.<\/p>\n And two solo home runs were not the only culprit on Thursday. The fifth inning was the bigger cause for frustration.<\/p>\n Gallen recorded two quick outs before Brandon Lowe \u2014 who hit the first home run \u2014 singled. Gallen walked the next hitter to put a runner in scoring position, and two singles later, the D-backs were trailing 3-2. It took Gallen 33 pitches to get out of it.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like for the most part I had pretty good stuff, pretty decent command,\u201d Gallen said. \u201cJust for whatever reason, I couldn\u2019t really execute,\u00a0especially with two strikes, in the fifth inning.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSome things to hang my hat on, but I feel like I pitched better than what my line suggests,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Overall, Gallen didn\u2019t look awful, and the swing-and-miss stuff was way better than usual when looking at this season as a whole. But he did not get away with a few mistakes, the two-out walk standing out as a killer. His ERA climbed to 4.70.<\/p>\n It did not help that he received little run support, as Arizona\u2019s offense was quiet for a second straight game.<\/p>\n Diamondbacks frustrating at-bats continue<\/p>\n Paul Skenes shut the D-backs down on Wednesday, and Mitch Keller was very good to follow him.<\/p>\n The D-backs\u2019 initial response started out well enough, as they scored a couple runs in the first three innings. They capitalized on a lead-off Geraldo Perdomo walk with an RBI single from Adrian Del Castillo in the first inning.<\/p>\n Corbin Carroll went yard in the third, his first home run and extra-base hit of May.<\/p>\n From there, near silence. Arizona worked four walks but only collected five hits \u2014 two from Carroll.<\/p>\n Chasing pitches outside the strike zone continued to be an issue, one that manager Torey Lovullo singled out postgame.<\/p>\n \u201cThis game is hard \u2026 but we\u2019re making it way harder than we should be,\u201d Lovullo said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got to get back to our basics and the things we really believe in. And that is digging in, especially with two strikes, not giving in through the course of the at-bat, handing it off. Swing at strikes, first of all.\u00a0And once you get to the two-strike situation, being able to get back in counts, create count leverage and just be an SOB up there.\u201d<\/p>\n The D-backs have scored two runs or fewer in five of the last nine games. They entered Thursday with the third-highest chase rate in the league, a lingering issue that goes against the team identity built over the past several seasons<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t go up there and tell somebody, don\u2019t chase,\u201d Lovullo said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to be in a good hitting position to see the baseball and see the baseball your way out of this. That\u2019s not a complete sentence.\u00a0I know that.\u00a0But see the baseball your way out of this.\u201d<\/p>\n