ST. LOUIS -- After Zac Gallen struggled during his last outing, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo decided to switch things up.
That meant reuniting Gallen with catcher José Herrera for the opener against the Cardinals on Friday at Busch Stadium. The decision seemed to pay off, for the first five innings, anyway.
A forgettable sixth inning for Gallen and the Diamondbacks erased five innings of dominance as they dropped the opener, 4-3, to the Redbirds.
The trouble started when Victor Scott II led the frame off with a single before Lars Nootbaar worked a five-pitch walk. A well-placed bunt from Masyn Winn moved the runners to second and third, and after Gallen fell behind to Brendan Donovan 2-0, Lovullo elected to intentionally walk him to load the bases. Then, Iván Herrera worked a bases-loaded walk to tie the game at 1.
“Donovan's a good hitter,” Lovullo said. “He's a patient hitter. He's one of the best hitters in the league, and you have to be respectful of that. Also, it gave me a chance to position the defense. You got a high ground ball hitter on deck in Herrera. I was able to put guys where I wanted. … So, it was just me rolling the dice, and it unfortunately didn't work out.”
Gallen came back to strike out Alec Burleson, putting the Diamondbacks one out away from getting out of the frame with minimal damage, but Nolan Arenado’s line drive to left-center went off Alek Thomas’ forearm as he tried to make a sliding basket catch at the track. Arenado ended up with a bases-clearing triple, giving the Cardinals a 4-1 lead.
“I got a good read on it, and then it came time to catch the ball, [and] I think I took a peek at where [Lourdes] Gurriel [Jr.] was, because I heard him coming, and then just took my eye off the ball and just didn't catch it,” Thomas said. “So yeah, 100% my fault. The ball has got to be caught.”
Gallen said Thomas comes up with that catch nine out of 10 times.
“When I saw that he got to the spot, I thought he'd caught it. … it’s a tough play,” Gallen said. “It is what it is.”
Diamondbacks first-base coach Dave McKay, who also works with the outfielders, said better communication was needed on the play.
“[Thomas] said at the last second he saw Guri come in the picture, and I told him, when things like that happen, rather than navigate it, just ‘I got it’ as loud as you can and scare the other guy off,” McKay said. “And even if it's just out of your reach, at least you guys aren’t coming together and someone gets hurt.”
Gallen allowed four runs -- all in the sixth -- on just three hits. He walked four and struck out four.
“Zac, he pitched a great game,” Arenado said. “He really did. I was just trying to be ready for the heater because he was doing a good job throwing heaters at the top of the zone that looked like strikes, but they weren't. It was tough to take because they look like strikes. So, I was just trying to be ready, and I was able to hit it hard.”
The night started strong. Gallen faced just two over the minimum through the first five frames, with Scott’s single in the third being the only Cardinals hit until the sixth.
“I felt like everything was working for the most part,” Gallen said. “I think the slider got pretty good as the game went on. My fastball had pretty decent life. … Even in that last inning, I think they just had some good at-bats. Kind of beared down there and tried to get me over the plate. And even the Arenado pitch, not a terrible pitch, [I’d] make that pitch again.”
The move to Herrera as Gallen’s catcher has some merit. Gallen entered with a 3.26 ERA in 34 games when the two were paired.
“We got a pretty good relationship,” Gallen said. “I think he knows what I'm looking for out of the shapes of my pitches. He kind of knows when certain things aren't right, not necessarily to shy away from those pitches, but use them a little differently. So yeah, there's definitely a comfort there.”
Ketel Marte gave the Diamondbacks a 1-0 lead with a leadoff home run in the fourth. Gabriel Moreno made it interesting by blasting a two-out, two-run pinch-hit homer off Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley in the ninth, but that was as close as the Diamondbacks got as they dropped their third straight game.
“I think Gabby with that big two-run home run was a really good sign,” Lovullo said. “Hopefully, it'll be a catalyst for good results tomorrow.”