PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks played a poor baseball game across the board on Friday, losing 8-2 to the Atlanta Braves in their third straight defeat at Chase Field.
Zac Gallen was knocked around early before settling in, the defense did not help its pitchers out for the second straight game and the bats failed to get much going.
This has been a tough week for the D-backs (14-12), who lost back-to-back games in extra innings to the Tampa Bay Rays before starting a stretch of five straight series against 2024 National League playoff teams.
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Gallen once again had trouble in the early-going, needing 59 pitches to get through two innings. He walked back-to-back hitters with two outs in the first before retiring the side, but he found no such luck in the second.
Atlanta (11-14) tagged Gallen with three runs on four hits in a 32-pitch frame, scoring twice with two outs. There was some misfortune, namely a flared double by Alex Verdugo that landed in the perfect spot inside the left-field line.
Still, a dubious trend continued:
First inning: 6 IP, 5 ER Second: 6 IP, 10 ER Third: 6 IP, 1 ER Fourth: 6 IP, 1 ER Fifth: 4.2 IP, 3 ER Sixth: 3 IP, 0 ER Seventh: 0.2 IP, 0 ER
Gallen retired all nine hitters he faced after the second inning on Friday, striking out three of them.
The D-backs are now 2-4 in Gallen’s starts this year.
Braves starter Chris Sale was not a beacon of efficiency, either. He threw 29 pitches in the first inning and finished with 104 in five frames.
He limited the damage, however, stranding the bases loaded with one out in the first, leaving a runner on third base with one out in the third and stranding a pair of runners after allowing a run in the third.
D-backs outfielder Jorge Barrosa, in his first MLB start of the year, drove in the lone Arizona run off Sale with a single up the middle.
The Diamondbacks did not record their next hit until an eighth-inning rally.
Atlanta pulled away in the sixth with a couple unearned runs charged to Juan Morillo. A low throw from third baseman Eugenio Suarez that first baseman Josh Naylor failed to scoop at first base with two outs plated a run, and Nick Allen followed with an RBI single to take a 5-1 lead.
Pitching prospect Yilber Diaz ate the final three innings, allowing three runs in the eighth.
The Diamondbacks’ offense finished with seven hits, right around their average number over the past six games. Arizona has put up 3.67 runs per game since their 10-run inning at Wrigley Field.
Suarez on offense was a bright spot with a double and two walks, scoring both runs.
Diamondbacks’ next game
The D-backs will look to salvage the series on Saturday night at 5:10 p.m.
Merrill Kelly (4.73 ERA) gets the ball against Atlanta right-hander Grant Holmes (3.22 ERA).
The game will air on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app.
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