Can Zac Gallen Find Redemption vs Cardinals?

The Arizona Diamondbacks will take on the St. Louis Cardinals on the road, beginning a three-game series at 5:15 p.m. Friday. Right-hander Zac Gallen will look to bounce back from a disastrous last outing.

Friday's game will be broadcast exclusively on Apple TV's Friday Night Baseball.

The D-backs are 26-24, coming off a series loss at Dodger Stadium that felt avoidable. Meanwhile, the Cardinals are 27-23, but just dropped a series to the MLB-leading Detroit Tigers. They remain just one game ahead of Arizona in the Wild Card race.

Pitching Matchup

RHP Zac Gallen (5.14 ERA)

It has been a rough season for Gallen overall, and his last start exacerbated his woes. Facing an MLB-worst Rockies club — a club known to be full of free-swingers — Gallen was lit up for his worst start of the season, giving up six earned runs on an eye-popping four homers.

That outing raised his ERA to 5.14, and began to close the gap between that ERA and his peripherals as well, as his 4.68 FIP no longer suggests much in the realm of bad luck. Gallen is walking a career-high 4.02 batters per nine, and has now given up 10 earned runs in his last 10.2 innings pitched.

Gallen has a career 3.12 ERA against the club that drafted him in St. Louis. His most recent start was a six-inning, seven strikeout shutout in 2024.

RHP Miles Mikolas (3.77 ERA)

Right-hander Miles Mikolas has begun to level out into a sturdy run of late. The 36-year-old veteran looked rough to open the season, but he hasn't given up more than three earned runs since a blowup start on April 6.

He delivered six shutout innings against the Kansas City Royals most recently on May 17, and has a career 3.26 ERA against Arizona, though he took the loss and five earned runs his last time facing the D-backs.

Mikolas has never been a strikeout arm, but he's sporting a career-low 5.36 K/9 to open 2025. He's also walking 2.98 per nine, one of the highest numbers of his career. He relies almost entirely on soft-contact flyouts, and boasts a deep, balanced arsenal.

He primarily relies on a low-90s four-seam and a slider, but also evenly splits usage of a curveball, sinker and changeup, with an occasional sweeper added in.

Lineup