Walker, Gallen provide hope in win over Rangers as DBacks seek momentum before playoffs

The final three weeks of the Diamondbacks ’ regular season will not just revolve around securing a playoff spot, it will be about getting as many parts of their roster as possible firing on all cylinders heading into October.

As such, Tuesday night was a resounding success. Not only did they knock off the Texas Rangers, 6-0, at Chase Field, they did it with big performances from a pair of players — first baseman Christian Walker and right-hander Zac Gallen — who are still rounding back into form.

Walker slammed a pair of home runs, his first big game at the plate since he returned last week from a month-long stint on the injured list with a left oblique strain. Gallen fired five scoreless innings, his third strong start in his past four outings after what was roughly a six-start stretch of inconsistent performances.

They aren’t the only players whose final few weeks will be under the microscope. Second baseman Ketel Marte recently returned from the IL but has yet to get locked in at the plate, and left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and catcher Gabriel Moreno are next in line to return from injuries and likely will need some time, as well, to get comfortable again.

“It’s really important,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “We have a little bit of time to make that happen. The postseason doesn’t start tomorrow — if we are getting into the postseason; I don’t want to take anything for granted — (so) they have a little bit of time to build some momentum, a little bit of continuity, a little bit of lineup connectivity. I think we’re all looking forward to getting everybody back in the right place.”

The Diamondbacks are not unique in this regard. Above them in the standings, the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers welcomed back right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Tuesday night and could get another starting pitcher, Tyler Glasnow, back next week. The San Diego Padres reinstated right-hander Yu Darvish last week; he turned in a solid performance on Tuesday night in his second start back.

The club that gets the most players back to peak performance likely will go a long way in determining who makes a deep run in the postseason.

For most of the past few seasons, Walker has been a rock of consistency in the heart of the Diamondbacks’ lineup, a source of quality at-bats and pure power. He also brings elite defense at first base. It seems it has taken him only a half-dozen games to find his rhythm.

In his first five games since returning, all of them coming on the previous road trip, he went just 3 for 15 with a double and a pair of walks. But on Tuesday, he blasted homers off Rangers right-hander Nathan Eovaldi in each of his first two trips to the plate.

“It’s nice to have him back,” Lovullo said. “When I saw him hit the home run today, I saw him smiling, I’m like, ‘Here we go.’ This is how he left us. It took him five, seven, 10 at-bats to get that feeling back. He’s already had some big base hits, but I know he wants to hit balls out of the ballpark. It’s nice to see him get some good results.”

Both of Walker’s shots went to the opposite field, both barely clearing the wall in right. In the first, he followed Joc Pederson’s homer by drilling a 95 mph fastball on the outer half. In the third, this time following a Pederson walk, Walker got a slider down and away and went with it. He had not homered since July 24, four days before hurting his oblique.

Walker also made a nifty grab on a popup back of first base in the sixth, ranging into shallow right field to make an over-the-shoulder grab of an Adolis Garcia flare.

As for Gallen, he gave up just two hits and two walks while striking out seven in what was his second consecutive scoreless outing.

It was not quite Gallen at his finest — he did not last longer due to a pitch count that was at 94 — but the Rangers managed to hit only three balls off him that were 95 mph or harder and not on the ground.

He was seemingly in control of almost every at-bat. He threw first-pitch strikes to 16 of the 19 batters he faced and threw strikes on two of the first three pitches of a plate appearance — or finished it before three pitches — against 14 of them.

After giving up runs in each of the first two innings of his start against the Dodgers on Aug. 30, he finished that day with three scoreless frames. Then came six no-hit innings last week in San Francisco, followed by five more scoreless frames on Tuesday, bringing him to 14 shutout innings in a row. He was asked what has changed to enable him to go on this run.

“I think just pitching, really, as simple and as vague of an answer as that is,” he said. “I think when I’m pitching — mixing speeds, mixing locations, doing things like that — that’s when I’m at my best.”

Prior to these past four starts, Gallen had logged a 5.24 ERA over a nine-start span, raising questions about his readiness to lead the staff in the postseason. His performance in recent starts has seemingly quieted those concerns — and teammate Merrill Kelly could do the same on Wednesday afternoon if he is able to follow up his strong performance last week in San Francisco with another good one against the Rangers.

The Walker and Pederson homers in the first made it 2-0. Walker’s second blast made it 4-0 in the third. The Diamondbacks added two more in the eighth, getting a pair of run-scoring doubles from Pavin Smith and Jose Herrera.

The club’s frontline relievers also turned in impressive nights. Right-handers Kevin Ginkel and Ryan Thompson pitched scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh. Lefty A.J. Puk struck out the side in his latest impressive inning in the eighth. And right-hander Justin Martinez struck out two in a clean ninth inning.

The Diamondbacks remained in position for the second wild-card spot, a half-game back of the San Diego Padres. They are two games up on the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves for the third and final wild-card spot with 17 games remaining.

—Nick Piecoro

Diamondbacks celebrate Suns and Mercury

Tuesday night was designated Suns and Mercury Night at Chase Field, and in honor of the occasion, Mercury player Natasha Mack and Suns player Monté Morris threw out ceremonial first pitches prior to the Diamondbacks' game against the Texas Rangers.

The players, plus Scorch, the Mercury mascot, and The Gorilla, the Suns' mascot, took part in the festivities. Morris signed with the Suns in July, and Mack is in her first season with the Mercury.

"I love days like this. I love getting out and supporting the other teams in this community," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said before the game. He was wearing a Mercury shirt, and said he texted Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon to wish him luck before the Cardinals opened the season at Buffalo on Sunday.

"I love being connected that way. I think it's important for all of us to support one another and this is a great day, right?" Lovullo added. "It's the Phoenix Suns and the Phoenix Mercury, so the fact that we're going to have a lot of support from them, and we like to do it in their arena as well, I am a huge fan of that. I just believe in that continuity in the community."

—Jose M. Romero

Updating injury status of Dbacks' Moreno, Gurriel

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo had injury updates for catcher Gabriel Moreno and outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. prior to Tuesday’s series opener against the Texas Rangers at Chase Field.

Moreno, on the 10-day injured list since Aug. 6 with a strained left adductor, is running arcs and turns at 80 percent speed, and will be at Chase Field Wednesday to hit off a Trajekt pitching robot and catch a bullpen session.

Gurriel will also hit off the Trajekt machine on Wednesday. He’s been on the 10-day injured list since Sept. 3 with a left calf injury. On Thursday, the plan is for Gurriel to start running.

“Those are the formal plans," Lovullo said. "I feel strongly that we’re going to get to those. Both very good signs for their hopeful return a lot sooner than later.”

Lovullo said Gurriel isn’t likely to be ready to come off the IL on Friday, the first day he is eligible.

Ketel Marte was in Tuesday’s lineup at second base, the first time he has played in the field since coming off the injured list on Friday.

—Jose M. Romero

DBacks' Pavin Smith still riding high after 3-homer game

Pavin Smith was still basking in the glow of his performance on Sunday night, when he slammed three home runs against the Houston Astros in a nationally televised game.

“It definitely feels like a once-in-a-lifetime kind of game and something that I’ll remember forever,” Smith said.

Smith noted that he had never had a multi-homer game in his big-league career prior to Sunday, when he blasted a three-run homer in the second inning, a grand slam in the third and a solo shot in the fifth. The first two homers were off Astros right-hander Justin Verlander, a likely future Hall of Famer.

“Getting that second one was pretty cool,” Smith said. “Then when the third one happened it was crazy. I knew I had two more at-bats to try to hit a fourth one and, obviously, I didn’t get it done. I definitely tried.”

Smith struck out in the seventh and walked in the ninth.

“I was talking to their first base coach,” Smith said. “I said, ‘You guys really had to bring in (lefty reliever Josh) Hader in the ninth inning down seven? You don’t want me to hit a fourth home run that bad?'”

—Nick Piecoro

Wednesday’s Diamondbacks-Rangers pitching matchup

Rangers at Diamondbacks, 12:40 p.m., Cox, Ch. 34

Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (4-0, 4.08) vs. Rangers LHP Cody Bradford (5-2, 3.05).

At Chase Field: Kelly is coming off his best start yet since returning from the injured list last month. He gave up just two runs in seven innings in a win over the Giants last week in San Francisco. Prior to that, he had logged a 6.75 ERA in four starts. … Kelly will be facing a Rangers team he shut down in Game 2 of the World Series last year, a start in which he gave up just one run in seven innings, with no walks and nine strikeouts. … Bradford, in his second season in the majors gave up just one run in six innings against the Angels in his most recent start. He has a 2.43 ERA over his past six outings, with six walks and 32 strikeouts in 37 innings. … He has a four-pitch mix that starts with a four-seam fastball that averages just 89.8 mph. He also throws a change-up, curveball and slider, getting whiffs on 35.5 percent of swings against his change-up.

Coming up

Thursday: Off.

Friday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (9-8, 4.42) vs. Brewers RHP Tobias Myers (7-5, 2.93).

Saturday: At Chase Field, 5:10 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (2-2, 5.83) vs. Brewers RHP Freddy Peralta (10-8, 3.81).

Sunday: At Chase Field, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (10-6, 4.33) vs. Brewers RHP Aaron Civale (5-8, 4.62).

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Walker, Gallen provide hope in win over Rangers as DBacks seek momentum before playoffs