Two of the top 10 winners in the history of the Diamondbacks will meet head-to-head for the first time when Zac Gallen and Robbie Ray duel in the continuation of a three-game series between Arizona and the host San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night.
The Giants (73-71) used a season-best five home runs to post an 11-5 win in the series opener Monday. The victory allowed San Francisco to move 1 1/2 games ahead of the Diamondbacks (72-73) for third place in the National League West. Both teams trail the New York Mets in the race for the final wild-card berth in the National League.
Gallen, acquired from Miami for Jazz Chisholm Jr. on July 31, 2019, and Ray, who left Arizona 13 months later when traded to Toronto for Travis Bergen, helped the Diamondbacks nearly make a playoff berth in 2019, when the club finished second in the NL West with 85 wins.
Ray left Arizona with 47 career wins, the ninth-most in franchise history. He was passed by Gallen, whose 63rd win in his most recent start broke a tie with Merrill Kelly for third place on the franchise list behind Randy Johnson (118) and Brandon Webb (87).
Something will have to give in their first head-to-head meeting, as both have had success against Tuesday’s opponent.
Gallen (11-13, 4.77 ERA) pitched the first seven innings of an 8-2 home win over the Giants on July 1, striking out 10 and allowing just one run. That improved the 30-year-old’s career record against San Francisco to 7-5 with a 3.75 ERA over 17 starts.
The right-hander has pitched six innings of shutout ball in each of his last two starts, crediting a new sinker for rescuing a tail-spinning season.
“He’s got the four-seam that travels up at the top of the zone, and now he’s got a two-seam fastball that’s kind of wrapped in barbed wire that’s coming out of right-handers’ hands,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo explained to the Arizona Sports 98.7’s radio audience last week. “That’s opened up a whole new avenue of the strike zone.”
Ray (10-6, 3.31 ERA) has never lost to his former team, going 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA in two starts, both of which came earlier this season. He got 10 runs of support in a 10-6 home win in May, then went the distance in a 7-2 win in Phoenix in July. He struck out 16 in those 15 innings.
The 33-year-old left-hander has benefited from a total of 25 runs of support in his last two starts but was unable to complete five innings in either. The Giants nonetheless prevailed in both and have won each of his last four starts, totaling 33 runs in those games.
The five homers Monday gave San Francisco 19 in its last eight home games. Immediately before trading for Rafael Devers in June, the Giants had a stretch in which they homered just four times over a seven-game stretch at Oracle Park.
“That’s what we’ve been doing,” Giants manager Bob Melvin told reporters after Monday’s long-ball display. “When Raffy came in, it (added to) what we had. That’s really been the driving force in how we’ve been playing lately.”
–Field Level Media
