D-backs Discuss Crucial Wednesday Night Victory vs Giants

The D-backs faced as close to a must-win as possible against the Giants on Wednesday, and delivered in a big spot. Hear from a handful of players and their manager following a necessary victory.

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen (23) reacts after allowing a double to San Francisco Giants Heliot Ramos (17) to the San Francisco Giants in the sixth inning at Chase Field in Phoenix on Sept. 25, 2024. / Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Arizona Diamondbacks' playoff hopes appeared to be dwindling, as they dropped the first two of a three-game set with their NL West rival San Francisco Giants.

But on Wednesday night, with their backs against the wall, Arizona delivered one of their cleanest wins in a crucial spot, taking down the Giants by a score of 8-2.

The D-backs are now 88-71, a record worthy of a stress-free playoff berth in most years. However, with the NL Wild Card picture continuing to remain tight, they only hold a one-game lead over the Atlanta Braves, clinging to the third and final Wild Card slot.

But they needed a win on Wednesday, and they got one, behind some timely offense - and one of Zac Gallen's best outings of the year.

Arizona's ace has struggled with consistency and command this season, but delivered six innings of one-run baseball Wednesday night, allowing just four baserunners on two hits and two walks, while punching out a season-high 11 batters.

Despite a slow first inning, and a run on a pair of doubles in the second, Gallen settled in to a dominant Quality Start.

“That’s probably the best I’ve felt in a while," Gallen told reporters postgame. "That always helps for sure. Sometimes, maybe to a fault, I’m pitching like it’s 0-0, even when we have a big lead. But I think it just kind of put a calmness over the dugout just in general, just knowing what’s at stake.

"It allowed me to feel a little more aggressive, understanding that I need to pitch as deep as I can in the game, so try and get ahead, establish the fastball and establish some pitches," Gallen said.

“I think the biggest thing was pitching to win, not pitching to not lose," the ace continued, "I feel like when you get into a tight spot… you’re maybe waiting for something to happen, so I was trying to be on the attack, trying to be aggressive today and just take it to them.”

“He rose to the occasion," manager Torey Lovullo said about his starter. “He’s got that gear, he’s got that extra ingredient that all good starting pitchers have… From my standpoint, he was the right guy int he right spot.”

“Today was a really clean baseball game, but it worked because of Zac Gallen and some timely hitting,” Lovullo said.

And the hitting was certainly timely. After managing just three runs over their previous 18 innings, the offense showed its identity again on Wednesday. After Gallen fell into a 1-0 deficit in the second, the offense immediately responded, giving him a 3-1 lead.

A big part of the offense came from first baseman Christian Walker, who had a pair of base hits, including a double, with two runs scored and a RBI. Walker told Diamondbacks ON SI that Wednesday's win was "huge."

"These matter big time. I think we had to prove to ourselves to get back on track, and we had to find a little confidence, a little swagger. A lot of confidence, lot of props to Gallen on the mound tonight, but I think we checked a lot of boxes as far as taking a little bit of load off, and taking some pressure off and remembering how good this offense can be,” Walker said.

But it's not always easy. The D-backs had been in the midst of a small slump, losing three straight before finding a way to take a dominant victory into the off-day ahead of their final series with the Padres.

“There’s two sides of everything. Sometimes you do everything right, and the other team just executes at a higher level. It doesn’t mean that you weren’t prepared, or weren't playing your best, it’s just what makes the game beautiful.

"On any given day, anybody can win. It’s why it’s so impressive I think when teams go out and they’re consistently really really good. It’s why when we pop off a month like august and you’re so proud of it, because we understand how difficult it is to execute like that consistently,” Walker said.

Of course, as has been the case many times in 2024, the big, late hit came from a pinch-hit at-bat by Pavin Smith.

With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, and runners at the corners, Smith pinch-hit for Randal Grichuk, and ripped a changeup in the zone deep to right center field, blowing open the game with three critical insurance runs to make it 8-2.

“I faced [Giants RHP Spencer Bivens] a few times, so I’ve seen him," Smith said postgame. "The Giants have been throwing a lot of soft, a lot of off-speed to me. I wasn’t necessarily sitting off-speed, but I wasn’t selling out to the heater either. Just got a changeup kind of up and over the middle and put a good swing on it."

“I think the rest of the year is going to feel [like a playoff game]. Just every game matters so much... I feel like there’s just a sense of urgency. You can call it pressure. We know they’re super important, so it’s going to feel a little extra pressure," Smith said.

The D-backs can certainly taste the playoffs. They still control their own destiny, but will need to play clean baseball as the red-hot Padres come to town Friday for the final three-game series of the year.

“This team wants to win, and they know how to win, and they know what it takes to link up and go and do it," said Lovullo, "I think we’re in a good spot, we have been in a good spot, we just hit a little speed bump, we’ll be ready to play on Friday.”