Diamondbacks' Starter Must Find Success vs Rockies

Right-hander Zac Gallen's season has been anything but satisfying, to both fans and Gallen himself. His 5.19 ERA has not been the product of bad luck, but rather poor execution.

While Gallen has been able to provide length in each of his three recent starts, he's been bit by the long ball four times in his past two starts, with eight earned runs in his last 13 innings. He's walked seven in that span.

What Gallen must avoid in his start is hard contact. Perhaps an oversimplification, and easier said than done, but the confines of Coors Field will not hold many a hard-hit ball. Gallen has given up a 46% hard-hit rate, and the average exit velocity against him is over 95 MPH. Those are both in the bottom 21% of MLB.

But the balls that are hard-hit flyouts in most MLB parks may easily leave Colorado's offensive paradise.

Swing-and-miss will be the key, and if he's not able to set up deception with his fastball, a poor result is to be expected once again.

Gallen will need to have pinpoint command and top-tier deception to avoid a similar result to his last outing against Colorado, in which he allowed six runs, including four homers at Chase Field.

For the Rockies, left-hander Austin Gomber is making just his second start of the year. He allowed just two hits over five scoreless innings. Gomber relies on a balanced arsenal, consisting of an 89 MPH four-seam, with a splitter, changeup, curve and slider to back it up.

Gomber has a career 5.65 ERA facing Arizona, and the D-backs jumped on him for six runs over just two innings in September of 2024.

Arizona Diamondbacks vs Colorado Rockies Lineups

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Arizona Diamondbacks vs Colorado Rockies Bullpen

The D-backs were forced to turn to closer Shelby Miller to finish their win over the Blue Jays Thursday, after Miller blew the save Tuesday on back-to-back home runs. Juan Morillo also pitched twice in the Blue Jays series, although he only faced one hitter on Thursday.

Arizona will likely have to utilize a combination of Jalen Beeks, Ryan Thompson, and Kyle Backhus for any high-leverage opportunities. Kevin Ginkel and Tayler Scott should be available to pitch an inning, if needed.

Long man Anthony DeSclafani is unavailable after a rough outing that saw him throw 41 pitches in two innings.

The Rockies used closer Seth Halvorsen both Wednesday and Thursday. He'll likely be down for game one. Jake Bird and Tyler Kinley, Colorado's other high-leverage arms, were not used.

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