Today’s Lineups
The last trip through the rotation for the Diamondbacks has been really good:
May 7, 2026 vs. Pirates: Zac Gallen, 6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 2 HR, Game Score 47
May 8, 2026 vs. Mets: Ryne Nelson, 6.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 1 HR, Game Score 72
May 9, 2026 vs. Mets: Merrill Kelly, 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 0 HR, Game Score 70
May 10, 2026 vs. Mets: Eduardo Rodríguez, 8.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 0 HR, Game Score 72
May 11, 2026 at Rangers: Michael Soroka, 6.1 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 0 HR, Game Score 71
Average Game Score: 66.4
By that 5-game rolling average game score, it’s the best we’ve seen since a run around the All Star Break in 2022:
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July 17, 2022 at Padres: Merrill Kelly, 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 1 HR, Game Score 61
July 22, 2022 vs. Nationals: Zac Gallen, 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 0 HR, Game Score 80
July 23, 2022 vs. Nationals: Madison Bumgarner, 8.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, 1 HR, Game Score 75
July 24, 2022 vs. Nationals: Corbin Martin, 4.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 1 K, 0 HR, Game Score 46
July 25, 2022 vs. Giants: Merrill Kelly, 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 0 HR, Game Score 83
Average Game Score: 69.0
If we restrict to 5-game stretches with 5 different starters, it’s the best since September 2019:
September 3, 2019 vs. Padres: Merrill Kelly, 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, 0 HR, Game Score 78
September 4, 2019 vs. Padres: Zac Gallen, 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 0 HR, Game Score 82
September 6, 2019 at Reds: Robbie Ray, 4.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, 0 HR, Game Score 50
September 7, 2019 at Reds: Alex Young, 8.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 12 K, 0 HR, Game Score 89
September 8, 2019 at Reds: Mike Leake, 6.1 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 HR, Game Score 54
Average Game Score: 70.6
So yeah, it’s been a while since we’ve had it this good. But this is still a far cry from the best in Diamondbacks history — the current stretch is only tied for 58th all-time. Here’s the best ever:
July 24, 2002 vs. Rockies: Miguel Batista, 9.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 1 HR, Game Score 83
July 25, 2002 vs. Padres: John Patterson, 7.1 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 0 HR, Game Score 73
July 26, 2002 vs. Padres: Randy Johnson, 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 0 HR, Game Score 76
July 27, 2002 vs. Padres: Curt Schilling, 8.0 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 0 HR, Game Score 69
July 28, 2002 vs. Padres: Brian Anderson, 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 11 K, 2 HR, Game Score 73
Average Game Score: 74.8
The good news is that there’s still quite a lot of room for Zac Gallen to improve on his last start, which had a Game Score of only 47. Doing so would give us an even better 5-game average. A score of better than 60 would surpass the 2022 streak; 69 or better would surpass 2018. Although it would take a career-best-tying 89 (reached against the Cubs on September 8, 2023) for him to pull the overall average into a tie for the franchise record. But any improvement on his last start would bring the rolling average up in the franchise rankings.
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All records queried here are courtesy of Retrosheet.
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