PHOENIX (AP) — Zac Gallen pitched six sharp innings and Corbin Carroll hit a two-run single in a five-run fifth to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks over the St. Louis Cardinals 5-0 on Sunday.
Gallen (3-0) threw 90 pitches, giving up four hits and walking two. He struck out seven, two of them coming with a runner on third and one out.
“His breaking ball was elite,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. ”It seemed like he could throw it anywhere he wanted.”
The right-hander caught Brandon Crawford looking on a full count with the bases loaded in the second and then got a grounder to escape the jam. Gallen also whiffed Ivan Herrera on a 3-2 curve in the fourth before retiring Crawford on a popup.
“I felt like I was grinding,” Gallen said. “I made some solid pitches when I needed to.”
With a five-run lead, he didn’t lobby to stay in after alerting Lovullo earlier.
“Torey and I have a really good relationship where I can say ‘I feel like I don’t have great stuff today,’ so I said something to him early in the game,” Gallen said. “He would check in with me after each inning. After the sixth he said, “That’s it,’ and I said, ‘Sounds good to me.’”
St. Louis starter Miles Mikolas (1-2) faced the minimum through four innings but didn’t finish the fifth.
Christian Walker, who had three hits, led off with a single. He went to third on Joc Pederson’s double down the right-field line and scored on Jace Peterson’s sacrifice fly to left, just beating Brendan Donovan’s throw to the plate. Jake McCarthy followed with a double to score Pederson.
After two walks loaded the bases, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol summoned Andre Pallante, but Carroll hit the right-hander’s first pitch to right for a two-run single. Pallante’s wild pitch allowed the fifth run to score. All were charged to Mikolas.
“He definitely was cruising, doing exactly what we expect of him,” Marmol said. “That last inning, he just fell behind guys. Pallante got a groundball that found a hole.”
As for not being able to take advantage of chances against Gallen, Marmol said, “Easier said than done. He didn’t give guys a whole lot to hit.”
Joe Mantiply and Bryce Jarvis combined for three hitless innings to finish the shutout for Gallen, who was the Cardinals’ third-round pick in the 2016 draft but was traded to Atlanta while still in the minors.
Gallen started the All-Star Game for the National League last year and finished third in Cy Young Award voting while helping the Diamondbacks win the NL pennant.
Carroll and McCarthy nearly collided while chasing Willson Contreras’ drive to the wall in deep center in the sixth. As they ran by each other, Carroll appeared to trip over McCarthy, the right fielder, who caught the ball while Carroll fell hard to the ground.
“I think he’s OK. He stayed in the game,” McCarthy said. “When I looked over and saw him on the ground, my heart kind of sank. We were both just going for the ball. I take responsibility for that; I think I called for it a little late.”
Before the game, Lovullo said left-hander Jordan Montgomery is on track to make his season debut, possibly in San Francisco during a weekend series. Montgomery, who signed as a free agent in the final week of spring training, threw 71 pitches in a Triple-A start for Reno at Tacoma, allowing nine hits and seven runs while striking out six in 3 2/3 innings.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cardinals: Injured INF/OF Tommy Edman (right wrist sprain) and OF Dylan Carlson (left shoulder sprain) will begin baseball activities Monday. Both have been sidelined since spring training.
Diamondbacks: Lovullo said closer Paul Sewald (left oblique strain) will throw another bullpen before determining the next step in his return to the active roster. … 3B Eugenio Suárez had a scheduled day off, his first of the season.
UP NEXT
Cardinals: Begin a three-game series Monday night at Oakland. Former A’s RHP Sonny Gray (1-0, 0.00 ERA) goes for St. Louis against RHP Ross Stripling (0-3, 5.50).
Diamondbacks: RHP Merrill Kelly (2-0, 2.29) opens a three-game series against the Cubs at Chase Field on Monday. RHP Ben Brown (0-0, 6.10) starts for Chicago.
