SAN FRANCISCO -- It would have been a fun story for Zac Gallen and the Diamondbacks had they won Tuesday night, instead of dropping their third in a row and further denting their longshot playoff hopes.
In a 5-3 loss to the Giants, Gallen passed Robbie Ray for third place on the Diamondbacks’ all-time strikeout list while starting opposite of none other than Robbie Ray.
Ray had 998 strikeouts during his 5 1/2 seasons with Arizona. Gallen needed two to catch him and did it with a third-inning swing and miss from Giants DH Rafael Devers. Gallen then passed Ray by throwing a called third strike past Devers in the fifth.
Gallen said he did not even know he had a chance to pass Ray until catcher James McCann told him after the game.
“I joked that it’s probably going to be hard to catch the guy at the top of the leaderboard,” Gallen said. “I think he’s got like a billion strikeouts here.”
That would be Randy Johnson, who recorded 2,077 of his 4,875 strikeouts in an Arizona uniform. Gallen might not catch Big Unit, but he’s only 66 shy of Brandon Webb’s 1,065 for second place.
A strikeout that Gallen failed to get turned into a bigger story in his 14th loss of the season.
After Heliot Ramos led off the home first with a walk on a close 3-2 pitch, Gallen walked Devers as well before Willy Adames connected for a three-run homer to give San Francisco a quick 3-0 lead.
“Ultimately, I’ve got to do a better job of making better pitches," Gallen said. "I didn’t do myself any good fortune by walking Devers either.”
Gallen allowed five runs in his worst outing since July 21, but he outlasted Ray and kept the Diamondbacks in the game. Back-to-back doubles by just-promoted Tim Tawa and Jordan Lawlar keyed a two-run fifth against Ray, and Arizona got within 5-3 on sixth-inning singles by Gerardo Perdomo, Blaze Alexander and Ildemaro Vargas, who had the RBI hit.
But the offense failed to cash in two big opportunities -- second and third with one out in the sixth, and especially first and second with nobody out in the ninth -- enabling the Giants to move two games behind the Mets for the final National League Wild Card. The Diamondbacks remained 4 1/2 games back.
Before the game, manager Torey Lovullo said he was eager to see Gallen and Ray square off with one about the pass the other for a franchise milestone.
“You can’t explain it, so I think there’s a certain energy that directed us to this moment,” Lovullo said. “I believe that stuff wholeheartedly. I don’t want to sound like I’m totally out there, because I can be.
“But who would have thought that these two guys would be matching up on the same mountain where Zac has a chance to pass him as a strikeout leader here? I’ve watched them both for a long time. I’ve been fans of both for a long time.”
Gallen and Ray were teammates for parts of 2019 and 2020. Ray had kind words for the pitcher who knocked him into fourth place on the Diamondbacks’ strikeout list.
"He's a great pitcher. Super talented,” Ray said. “He's having a little bit of struggles this year, but he also got really deep into this game. I'm just super proud of him and the pitcher that he's been and who he's become. I'm just looking forward to watching him in the future, too."