Zac Gallen had to deal with a Dodgers’ runner on second base in each of his first five innings of work, and most of those hadn’t scored until L.A. built on its early lead in the fifth.
After Mookie Betts singled and Freddie Freeman doubled him home in the first inning, Gallen shut down the Dodgers until the fifth. That’s when Shohei Ohtani singled, got to third on Betts’ long single into the left field corner and scored on Freeman’s sacrifice fly.
Advertisement
Then Will Smith bounced a single up the middle off Gallen to drive in Betts, and the Dodgers had a 3-0 lead through five innings.
Diamondbacks‘ catcher José Herrera threw out Smith trying to steal second base, but Gallen got up to 88 pitches in five innings and allowed those three runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and two walks.
He came back out for the sixth inning.
The Diamondbacks have had a couple of chances against Dodgers’ starter Tony Gonsolin, but haven’t cashed in. Gonsolin got Josh Naylor to pop out with runners on first and third bases in the bottom of the third inning to end it.
Advertisement
The Diamondbacks have three hits off Gonsolin and have left four on base in five innings.
Everyday Marte coming soon despite day off
Second baseman Ketel Marte was out of the lineup on May 11 and manager Torey Lovullo described it as a planned day off as Marte is still a little more than a week removed from coming off the injured list.
But Lovullo said Marte is getting close to the point where he will be playing on a near-everyday basis.
“We’re going to get into a real good rhythm here where he’s eventually going to play six, seven days in a row and then get a day off,” Lovullo said.
Lovullo said the day off he gave left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. the day before came after Gurriel expressed the need for a rest. Lovullo has been saying since the start of spring training that he wants to be more careful with Gurriel this year. The club believes Gurriel wore down at times last year, causing him to struggle and perhaps leading to a stint on the injured list.
Advertisement
Lovullo said the days off are about maintaining the health of Gurriel’s lower body.
“He’s a big time lower-half hitter and when his base is right his entire swing plane is good,” Lovullo said. “He came into my office, we talked directly and indirectly the other day. He said, ‘I’m getting tired. I’m getting to that point. I’m going to need a day off here pretty soon.’”
Lovullo admitted the timing was not ideal in that it came a day after Gurriel hit a grand slam but felt it was important to keep him strong.
Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 1:10 p.m., Cox, Ch. 34
Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (3-4, 4.37) vs. Dodgers RHP Tony Gonsolin (1-0, 4.09).
Advertisement
At Chase Field: Gallen gave up one run in seven innings against the Mets in his most recent start, his second consecutive strong outing against a tough Mets team. Facing them in back-to-back starts, he gave up a combined two runs in 13 innings with six walks and 14 strikeouts. … Gallen owns a 4.03 ERA in 13 career starts against the Dodgers in the regular season. They have hit him hard the past two seasons, scoring 19 runs in 19 innings off him across four starts. … Gonsolin missed all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery. He has made two starts since returning this year and has pitched well in both starts. He allowed three runs in six innings in his return, then followed that up by allowing two runs in five innings last week. Both starts came against the Marlins. … Gonsolin has been averaging 93.4 mph with his fastball while racking up whiffs with his slider, splitter and curveball.
Coming up
May 12: At San Francisco, 6:45 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (3-2, 4.09) vs. Giants RHP Justin Verlander (0-2, 4.50).
May 13: At San Francisco, 6:45 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (6-2, 3.28) vs. Giants LHP Robbie Ray (5-0, 2.84).
Advertisement
May 14: At San Francisco, 12:45 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (1-3, 7.30) vs. Giants RHP Jordan Hicks (1-4, 5.82).
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Diamondbacks vs Dodgers updates: DBacks searching for first run