Diamondbacks Need Zac Gallen to Continue Hot Streak

The Arizona Diamondbacks dropped game one of their series with the Los Angeles Angels in walk-off fashion on Friday night. On Saturday, they'll attempt to even the series behind right-hander Zac Gallen.

The Diamondbacks fell to three below .500 at 46-49, while the Angels improved to 46-48. Time is running out to show they are worthy of being buyers.

Arizona Diamondbacks vs Los Angeles Angels Pitching Matchup

RHP Zac Gallen (5.15 ERA) vs LHP Yusei Kikuchi (3.02 ERA)

Gallen has appeared to turn a corner recently. In back-to-back starts, he's looked much more like the ace Arizona knows him to be, pitching 13 innings with just one earned run allowed, one walk and 19 strikeouts.

Working with veteran catcher James McCann, Gallen's fastball and secondary command has looked notably sharper.

He'll need to continue that momentum. While Arizona has had some success in their rotation of late, they need their former ace to regain form if they hope to get on a hot streak and make a serious climb back into contention.

Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi is having an excellent season. He's pitched to a 3.02 ERA in 19 starts over 107.1 innings.

While his expected metrics do suggest he's gotten the benefit of some good defense behind him (4.16 expected ERA), he's still been able to deliver results and lead Los Angeles' rotation.

He has had a decent amount of hard contact go against him, and hasn't been racking up strikeouts at a exorbitantly high clip, but he's stranded 80.2% of baserunners, and still has an above average 24% strikeout rate.

Kikuchi throws a hard slider as his primary pitch. He also throws a mid-90s four-seam, a curve, changeup and occasional sinker.

It's the slider and curve that have stifled hitters the most. They combine for a +12 Run Value per Statcast. Opponents are hitting just .161 and slugging .226 against the curve.

Arizona will likely need to hunt for the fastball. Opposing batters have hit that pitch to a .320 average and .451 slug.

Diamondbacks vs Angels Lineups

(Check back later for lineups.)

Diamondbacks vs Angels Bullpens

The Diamondbacks' bullpen continues to suffer injuries.

On Friday, left-hander Jalen Beeks went on the Injured List. Kendall Graveman came off the IL, and gave up a run on 22 pitches in his return outing.

Arizona used long man Anthony DeSclafani for three scoreless innings, and Kyle Backhus threw 19 pitches in the ninth inning.

Kevin Ginkel may be the only leverage option available to manager Torey Lovullo, with recently-recalled Andrew Saalfrank awaiting his first pitch in the majors this season.

The Angels used four relievers, including closer Kenley Jansen and setup men Reid Detmers and Jose Fermin. Jansen threw just 10 pitches, while Detmers threw 19.

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