Zac Gallen's scoreless streak ends, sets Diamondbacks record

DENVER — Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen started a game in Cleveland on August 2, the day before his birthday. It took until the fourth inning of his seventh start since then for him to finally give up a run.

“It’s kind of crazy those are the first runs I gave up since I turned 27,” Gallen said on Sunday after his scoreless innings streak ended at 44 1/3 innings, a new Diamondbacks record. “For it to last that long, I guess you could say 27 started off on a good (note).”

Gallen started the Diamondbacks’ 12-6 win over the Colorado Rockies with a scoreless first inning to move past Brandon Webb for the longest streak in club history. Webb threw 42 consecutive scoreless innings in 2007. Gallen then put up two more zeros in the second and third innings.

But the manner in which the streak ended in the fourth spoke to how incredible such runs are in the first place. Ryan McMahon led off the inning with a shift-beating infield single to short. Yonathan Daza followed by dumping a bloop single into right.

And the Rockies’ C.J. Cron brought an end to the streak by shooting a 1-2 fastball past first baseman Christian Walker and into right field for a run-scoring single.

“For it to happen on two singles that were hit not very hard at all and then just kind of a two-strike, defensive swing, that’s the way it goes,” Gallen said. “I can think of other times where I made a mistake, a guy put a really good swing on it and one of the guys was there to back me up on a good play. That’s kind of the double-edged sword of it all.”

Three batters later, the Rockies’ Elehuris Montero made it a three-run inning by driving a Gallen cutter into the right-center field gap for a two-run double. Gallen finished with three runs allowed in six innings.

Though Cron’s ball was hit hard — it came off the bat at 101.4 mph — Gallen might have caught a couple of tough breaks in the way the hit unfolded. Walker said he was partially screened by Daza and that he never got a good look at the ball off the bat.

“I don’t really know if it was the runner or just tough visuals, but I’ll be honest, I don’t ever think I saw it,” Walker said. “Maybe last second. I saw Cron’s body language, like he was going to shoot it the other way. Like, if it would have been a line drive, it probably would have hit me in the chest. I didn’t see it at all.”

Still, as Gallen mentioned, his defense came up big for him on multiple occasions during his streak, including on the first pitch he threw on Sunday. The Rockies’ Ryan McMahon hit a hard liner to center, where Daulton Varsho raced in and made a diving catch.

For the Diamondbacks, the win snapped a four-game losing skid. The offense collected 15 hits and worked nine walks. Jake McCarthy had another big game at the plate, collecting four hits, including a triple. Ketel Marte had a key, two-run double during a five-run seventh.

The Diamondbacks, who have been playing their best baseball of the season over the past month, return home to face the Dodgers on Monday night, a series that should provide a good test for their young lineup.

“We’re a different team with a different mentality and a different attitude (since the last time we played them),” manager Torey Lovullo said. “It’ll be a good test for us. I think our guys are super excited to get back home. The Dodgers are coming in and we know that, so we’ve got to be ready to play our brand of baseball. We will.”

Gallen’s streak ends as the seventh-longest in major league history, well behind the 59 consecutive innings Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Orel Hershiser posted in 1988.

“It’s incredible,” Walker said of Gallen. “It’s special. It’s a milestone. But it’s not surprising, if I’m being honest. He’s a freakin’ stud. He prepares the right way. He’s a good teammate. He works hard. He takes this (stuff) seriously. As far as starting pitchers go, he’s the mold, in my opinion.”

Gallen admitted part of him was glad to see the streak end, calling it a relief that he wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore. He also acknowledged he may never have a chance to do something like this again.

“I knew it would end at some point,” Gallen said. “It’s one of those ones where it’s bittersweet. Coming into it, I think the franchise record was the one I was most concerned about, really. Orel and 59 was in a whole other stratosphere for me. I tried not to concern myself with that one. That was looking way too far ahead.”

As for Webb, Gallen was impressed with how gracious and encouraging he was in recent weeks.

“I probably wouldn’t have taken it as well as he did, you know, encouraging somebody to break my record,” Gallen said. “It’s just awesome to be able to be mentioned in the same conversation as a legend of the franchise.”

Gallen struggled for a stretch in the middle of the season, and he said he tried to motivate himself with the idea of stringing together dominant starts. But even he admitted this was beyond his imagination.

“I always tell myself, ‘Let’s make a run,’” he said. “I didn’t think it would be to the magnitude of this. But I’m always telling myself when I’m throwing well and not getting the results, ‘Let’s make a run.’ It’s kind of wild that it turned out to be this sort of a run.”

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Reach Piecoro at (602) 444-8680 or nick.piecoro@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickpiecoro.