Arizona Diamondbacks settle for series win after Gallen struggles in loss

After another rough night on the mound led to a 6-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday, Gallen used the line again, only in a more melancholy context.

“I think I said a while back it’s better to be lucky than good in this game,” Gallen said. “I feel like right now I don’t have either side of the coin. It’s kind of frustrating.”

The loss kept the D-backs from yet another three-game sweep of the Giants, forcing them to settle for a series win. They saw their record drop to 43-43.

Gallen was charged with six runs in 5⅔ innings, posting another pitching line that indicates his days as an effective starter might be over. But for the third consecutive start, there were elements of his performance that seemed to suggest he isn’t too far away from respectability.

Last homestand against the Twins, he was victimized by soft contact — and hurt by his inability to generate swing and miss. Six days later, he was knocked around early and late in his start against the Rays, but at one point he managed to retire 15 consecutive hitters.

Then came Wednesday’s game, in which he retired 12 of the first 13 batters he faced before being charged with three runs in both the fifth and sixth innings.

“Anytime I made a mistake, the ball was going for damage or leaving the ballpark,” Gallen said. “It’s frustrating when you’re trying to limit runs or give your team a chance to win.”

Gallen was sharp through four innings but opened the fifth by allowing a homer (Heliot Ramos), a single (Jung Hoo Lee) and a two-run homer (Victor Bericoto) to the first three batters.

His manager was second-guessing himself for the way the next inning unfolded.

After Gallen struck out Casey Schmitt and Bryce Eldridge to open the sixth, he got to two strikes against Rafael Devers but ended up walking him on six pitches. Torey Lovullo stuck with his starter only to watch as Ramos (triple) and Lee (single) delivered run-scoring hits to push the lead to 5-0, at which point Lovullo went to reliever Ryan Thompson.

With multiple relievers unavailable to pitch, Lovullo said he was hoping Gallen could get him through six — and he said the back-to-back strikeouts to start the inning might have given him false hope.

“Maybe I was fooled by that a little bit,” Lovullo said. “I gave him the opportunity to get out of that (inning). I could have had Thompson ready for Ramos. I’m kicking myself for that.”

By the time the top of the sixth ended, the Giants led, 6-0, which was where things stood until the top of the eighth, when the Diamondbacks took advantage of some shoddy defense to score four times to get back in the game. Ultimately, they fell a couple of hits shy, leaving a runner on third with two outs in the eighth and going down in order in the ninth.

The late-game offense was front of mind for Gallen. He was asked if he has been able to extract anything positive from the past few starts, games in which his results have been atrocious, but his routes to them have been a little less unsightly.

“Small positives can kind of give you a glimmer of hope in trusting the process and knowing that you’re heading in the right direction and there’s still outs to be gotten in there,” he said. “(But) when the final line is kind of tough, especially where we kind of put a rally together and score four runs, I feel like I could have left that game in the sixth inning giving up three runs, and this might be a different story.

"We’d be talking about a sweep going into the off day.”

Smith's leash getting shorter

Slumping first baseman Pavin Smith continues to draw starts at first base against right-handed pitching, but manager Torey Lovullo acknowledged he might look elsewhere if Smith’s results don’t improve.

“Possibly,” Lovullo said. “We have to be mindful of that. We have a couple of other first basemen with (LuJames) Groover and (Ildemaro) Vargas and I’ve got to watch things very closely. I’ll certainly put Pavin in my crosshairs if I need to.”

Smith came off the injured list at the start of June but has struggled badly at the plate, going just 8 for 56 (.143) with one home run in 21 games. The results haven’t been getting any better; he was 1 for 23 over his past seven games entering the Diamondbacks game against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday.

Trouble is, neither Groover nor Vargas has seized opportunities in recent weeks. Groover saw regular at-bats for his first couple of weeks in the majors, but did not produce and began to lose starts. He is 8 for 46 (.174) with one homer since getting called up in early June.

Vargas, meanwhile, had a monster April and swung the bat relatively well through the middle of May but has fallen hard since. He is just 9 for 88 (.102) over his past 34 games.

Lovullo offered a pair of minor injury updates. He said catcher James McCann was headed to Tacoma to join Triple-A Reno on a rehab assignment. Lovullo intimated that the stint with Reno would last through the weekend.

Lovullo also clarified the timetable for right-hander Michael Soroka, whom he said a day earlier could be back before the July 13-16 All-Star break. Lovullo seemed to suggest a return after the break was far more likely.

“We’re not going to rush this,” Lovullo said. “It might be some time right after the break. Still in that time zone. I was very hopeful with what I was saying about before the break; it’s a possibility. But I don’t want you guys to be misled by what I said yesterday.”

Soroka is on the injured list with a left glute strain.

Cunningham to play in Futures Game

High-A shortstop Kayson Cunningham will be the Diamondbacks’ lone representative in the Futures Game on July 12 in Philadelphia.

Cunningham, the club’s top pick in last year’s draft, hit a blistering .381 with a .506 slugging in 43 games with Low-A Visalia before being promoted.

He has slowed considerably in High-A Hillsboro, hitting .226/.286/.339 in 16 games.

Cunningham, 20, was considered by many to be the best pure hitter among the high school class in last year’s draft. There were questions about his defensive home — and he did not impress scouts with his defense in his pro debut last year — but he has looked better in the field this season. Still, scouts consider him more likely to best fit at second base once he reaches the majors.

Coming up

– Friday: At Chase Field, 6:45 p.m., D-backs RHP Jose Cabrera (0-1, 3.60) vs. Brewers LHP Kyle Harrison (8-1, 2.57).

– Saturday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., D-backs RHP Merrill Kelly (5-8, 5.84) vs. Brewers RHP Brandon Woodruff (2-1, 2.59).

– Sunday: At Chase Field, 1 p.m., D-backs LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (7-2, 2.21) vs. Brewers RHP Brandon Sproat (3-4, 5.28).