Diamondbacks blank Cubs |
CHICAGO - Who would have thought that one of the best pitch games of the season would be between an NL Cy Young candidate in Zach Gallen and a struggling Jameson Taillon. Well, that is precisely what the fans at Wrigley Field were treated to on Friday as the Chicago Cubs (76-66) and Arizona Diamondbacks (74-68) delivered one of the best combined pitching matchups of the season.
Not only was this a scoreless game entering the eighth, but it was also just the 107th game this season that saw the score tied 0-0 entering the eighth. It was also the fourth game all season where neither team had a hit through four, as the pitching dominated things from start to finish. We will touch on Gallen briefly, but Taillon deserves a ton of credit. Yes, this season has been a struggle, but he has taken plenty of accountability for it. Friday saw Taillon deliver his best outing of the year, as he needed just 79 pitches to get through six innings, allowing just one hit and striking out a season-high nine. Typically, that would be good enough for the Cubs to grab a win, but not on this day, as an eighth-inning single off the bat of Corbin Carroll would be all the offense the Diamondbacks would need in their 1-0 win. Gallen has been in the Cy Young conversation all season, but after getting shelled in his previous two starts, you had to slightly like the Cubs' chances. Instead, Gallen delivered arguably his best performance of the season as he not only went the distance but struck out nine and allowed no runs for the complete game shutout. Judging by how things started for the Cubs, it didn't look good as Taillon walked Carroll to start the game before a stolen base and a Miguel Amaya throwing error put a runner on third with no outs. Not only did Taillon bounce back to strikeout the side, but he would retire the next 17 hitters he faced until Carroll added a two-out single in the sixth to end that streak. Gallen was equally as good early on as he retired the first ten hitters he faced until a hit by pitch to Nico Hoerner gave the Cubs their first baserunner of the day. Nothing came from that as Gallen went into the fifth without allowing a hit, only to have Suzuki smoke a single up the middle for the game's first hit. Looking to get aggressive, David Ross put Suzuki in motion, but the strike him out, thrown him out by Gabriel Moreno ended the first real threat of the game. With two outs into the sixth, Carroll delivered the first hit of the game for the Diamondbacks and went on to steal his second base. Like in the first, Amaya uncorked a throwing error on that play as Carroll would reach third before Taillon finished his outing unharmed. With Taillon out of the game, it was up to the Cubs bullpen to keep things close as Julian Merryweather entered in the seventh and proceeded to strikeout the side to keep things scoreless. In search of the game's first run, Hoerner led off the bottom of the seventh with a leadoff single, as that was the first time the Cubs leadoff runner reached in two games. Once again, Gallen buckled down as he retired the next three hitters to send the game to the eighth tied 0-0. With Jose Cuas now on to pitch the eighth, the Diamondbacks set themselves up with their first significant scoring chance of the game as Lourdes Gurriel Jr. started things off with a single before the Moreno walk put a pair of runners on with two outs. Cuas would strike out the next hitter before Mark Leiter Jr took over as he proceeded to strikeout Geraldo Perdermo for the second out. On the verge of working out of a major jam, Leiter faced the potential rookie of the year in Carroll, who lined one to Suzuki in right. What looked to be an incredible inning-ending catch to keep things scoreless went under review and was later overturned as the Carroll single put the Diamondbacks in front 1-0. That would be the only run of the game for either side as Suzuki led off the eighth with another leadoff single, only to be erased on a fielder's choice. Miles Mastrobuoni entered the game as a pinch runner and has thrown out by Moreno to end the eighth as the Cubs were down to the final three outs. After Adbert Alzolay tossed a scoreless ninth for his first appearance in over a week, it was the top of the Cubs order looking to provide the fans with some excitment. Mike Tauchman worked a one-out walk to put the tying run on base, but that was it as Gallen finished off the Cubs for an impressive 1-0 complete-game shutout win. The Cubs were held to three hits in the game, with Suzuki picking up two and Hoerner adding one. The Diamondbacks have gained two games on the Cubs in the Wild Card standings and now trail them by only two games. The Cubs will look to grab their first win of the weekend on Saturday as they send their Ace Justin Steele to the mound against the all-star Merrill Kelly. The first pitch is set for 1:20.
