The Arizona Diamondbacks found some life after 17 scoreless innings Saturday, and their ninth-inning rally turned Sunday’s meeting with the Milwaukee Brewers into the rubber match of the three-game series.
The Diamondbacks’ five-run ninth gave them a 5-4 victory Saturday, just when the Brewers were poised to post back-to-back shutouts and clinch their fourth straight series win.
Milwaukee will have another chance Sunday, when right-hander Freddy Peralta opposes Arizona right-hander Zac Gallen.
“These losses either hurt you bad or force you to reach down a little further,” Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said. “Our team has always done that. We have a monstrous schedule in front of us with the type of pitching we are going to face.
“With our pitching injuries, it is a daunting task, but when you give one away … you are going to do that during a season. When you give one away, it digs deep. It hurts.”
The Brewers, who have used eight starting pitchers this season, have won 8 of 11 games since starting the season 0-4.
Milwaukee’s Jackson Chourio had two hits, including a 448-foot homer Saturday to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 14 games.
Arizona’s Corbin Carroll had two hits, including a two-run double in the ninth to get the Diamondbacks within 4-3, and he scored the tying run on Jake McCarthy’s single. Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s sacrifice fly capped the win.
McCarthy was 2-for-30 this season before that at-bat. Carroll has reached base in all 15 games this season.
“You just don’t know where the rally is going to start,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “How it’s going to start. Who’s going to start it, and who’s going to be in position to do something special. We started to have some really stubborn at-bats.
“It was an exhausting day. It was an exhausting ending.”
Gallen (1-2, 5.28 ERA) will make his fourth start in what has been an uneven beginning to his season. He tied a career high with 13 strikeouts in a 4-3 victory over the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on April 2 but has been uncharacteristically wild in his two home starts.
He walked four in four innings in a 10-6 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Opening Day, and walked four more in 4 2/3 innings in a 5-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Monday.
Gallen and pitching coach Brian Kaplan worked on several tweaks in spring training that were designed to improve the shape of his fastball.
“As these games go on, I understand the little different cues to get me back to what I am trying to do,” Gallen said. “At the same time, the changes we made are a little foreign. Not as comfortable, natural. I think we’re heading in the right direction.”
Gallen is 4-3 with a 2.74 ERA in eight career starts against the Brewers, with 56 strikeouts in 46 innings. He also beat them in Game 2 of a National League wild-card series in 2023, clinching a spot in the NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
William Contreras is 3-for-9 with a homer against Gallen, Brice Turang is 4-for-7 and Chourio is 3-for-6 with a homer.
Peralta (1-1, 2.00) gave up two earned runs in his first start and one in each of the next two. He has 22 strikeouts in 18 innings.
Peralta is 4-0 with an 0.84 ERA in five career appearances (three starts) against the Diamondbacks. His other numbers are just as noticeable. In 21 1/3 innings, he has given up eight hits and struck out 29. He also has walked 12.
Peralta outdueled Eduardo Rodriguez for a 2-1 victory at Chase Field last Sept. 13.
Eugenio Suarez is 2-for-20 with eight strikeouts against Peralta.
–Field Level Media
