Zac Gallen, Pavin Smith Power D-backs to Blowout Win vs Athletics

The D-backs showed some fireworks at Salt River Fields on Thursday.

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen (23) throws against the Cleveland Guardians during a spring training game at Salt River Fields on Feb. 24, 2025. / Michael Chow/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Athletics handily on Thursday afternoon at Salt River Fields by a score of 11-3 It was a solid all-around day for the D-backs.

Arizona's newly-announced Opening Day starter, right-hander Zac Gallen, got a heavy workload in. He threw 73 pitches over 4.1 innings, allowing five base hits, two walks and one earned run. Of his 73 pitches, only 43 went for strikes.

Gallen worked to soft contact well in the early goings. Though he's usually an arm that can punch out hitters in volume, he recorded only two strikeouts on the day. However, he did record an impressive eight groundouts, including a double play to erase a leadoff single in the third inning.

Gallen's lone earned run came as a result of three singles in the fourth, with the RBI coming off the bat of Seth Brown.

While his pitching line certainly looked sturdy, Gallen's velocity was still sitting a tick below his standard 93-94 MPH. He sat near the 93 MPH mark, but just below it.

Only 47% of his pitches landed in the zone on Thursday, however, his movement was high and his stuff looked sharp, despite some inconsistent location.

It's important to remember that this is still Spring Training, and while Gallen might be pushing to be ready for Opening Day, the results of Cactus League outings can be skewed by a variety of factors. Opening Day will be the true test, but Gallen has seen even his shakier-looking outings produce solid final results.

"Today I was just focused on going out there and after five innings, build the pitch count, get the stamina up, and things like that," Gallen told Diamondbacks On SI's Jack Sommers postgame.

"I felt like everything started coming together a lot better from where I was in that first live BP, to even where I was last outing in that Triple-A game. I still felt a little off today.

"I felt a little bit closer, a little bit more in sync, a little bit better rhythm. I think it was a good outing from a 30,000-foot view," Gallen said.

Manager Torey Lovullo praised his ace's outing to reporters following the contest.

"Zac was really good today. I thought the breaking ball was a big separator for him. It looked like he could throw it any time he wanted, in any count he wanted. It had good depth in the zone, it was spinning and breaking inside of that little space that he's looking to have the most action.

"On top of that, we wanted to get him into that 70-plus pitch range. He did. He didn't want to come out of the game. He felt like he could get that guy to roll into a double play. But I wanted [Kevin Ginkel] to come into the middle of an inning in a situation that's a little more realistic for what's going to be happening during the year. Everything worked out really, really good," Lovullo said.

Ginkel entered in relief of Gallen, and got two outs with a strikeout. A.J. Puk tossed a scoreless 1-2-3 inning with two punchouts.

Right-handed flamethrower Justin Martinez allowed a leadoff single, and misplaced a 102.3 MPH sinker in the heart of the zone, leading to an RBI triple. He collected two more groundouts, which led to two earned runs against his line, but his stuff and velocity both looked sharp.

Scott McGough and Taylor Rashi both tossed a scoreless inning, each picking up a pair of strikeouts to close the game down late.

And the D-backs' offense got off to a hot start, thanks to the bat of first baseman Pavin Smith. With bases loaded in the first, Smith lined a single to left field to bring in two home.

But it wouldn't end there. Arizona tacked on four more runs in the third inning. After a pair of singles and a wild pitch, the score rose to 3-0. Then, with Josh Naylor at first, and Randal Grichuk at second, Smith came up to bat again.

The lefty-hitting first baseman crushed a favorable fastball off the wall, 105.6 MPH off the bat for a two-run triple. His first of the Cactus League. Smith finished his day 3-for-4, with two singles, the triple and four RBI.

"Once [Smith] gets that feel, he can maintain it through the reps," said Lovullo. "I've always had really good hitting conversations with Pavin. I'm always overhearing what he's saying about hitting to other people. It's just the concepts are really impressive. I knew it was a matter of time before he'd start to zone in."

"I don't want Pavin to try and do too much.I just want him to be his old consistent self... If he's doing that, he's going to have a really good year for us, and it's very key," the manager said.

The offense tacked on four more runs in the sixth inning, with hits by Ildemaro Vargas Caleb Roberts, Jose Herrera, and another by Smith to climb up to 11 runs.

It was a great day at the plate for most of Arizona's lineup. The D-backs banged out 17 hits, with nine different players recording at least one base hit. Vargas went 4-for-5 with four runs scored and an RBI. Garrett Hampson went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a walk. Even outfield prospect Jack Hurley picked up a pair of base hits.

The Diamondbacks will be back in action on Friday, facing the Milwaukee Brewers for a 6:10 p.m. night game in Maryvale.