NEW YORK -- Zac Gallen grew up in Somerdale, N.J., so he is used to playing in the cold springtime weather of this part of the country.
So when he took the mound Wednesday night against the Yankees with a gametime temperature of 42 degrees with blustery winds that made it feel like it was in the mid-30s, he did so in short sleeves -- even if he did have second thoughts.
"When I walked out there, I was like, ¡®Maybe I should wear sleeves tonight,¡¯¡± Gallen said with a smile.
Gallen provided plenty of heat on his own in matching a career high with 13 strikeouts as the Diamondbacks beat the Bronx Bombers for the second straight night, 4-3.
"I mean, for me, I grew up in it, so it kind of takes me back to being a kid, you know, mainly high school,¡± Gallen said of the weather. ¡°You know, the first day of practice is March 1 and the first game is usually March 31 so you're playing in this weather for three weeks, maybe a month. So yeah, for me, I try to use it to my advantage a little bit with how I gameplan, how I'm gonna attack the hitters.¡±
Gallen didn¡¯t want to give away any trade secrets, so he didn¡¯t want to get specific about how his gameplan changes in cold weather.
But everyone knows that hitters hate getting jammed in cold weather, and Gallen referenced wanting to be ¡°on the attack¡± throughout the outing.
That was evident in the fact that Gallen did not walk a batter, while allowing three hits in his 6 2/3 innings.
The Diamondbacks' offense gave him early runs to work with thanks to a two-run homer by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in the first, and they added another two in the second off Yankees starter Carlos Rod¨®n.
The Yankees' only real threat against Gallen came in the second when Jazz Chisholm Jr. led off with a single and advanced to third one out later on Austin Wells' double. Gallen, though, struck out the next two hitters to end the inning.
Gallen credited catcher Gabriel Moreno for being in sync with him throughout the game, but especially during that jam. Gallen, who in the past has called a lot of his own pitches using the PitchCom device, said he only went to that for about six of his 101 pitches.
Because he had good command of his fastball at that time and his curveball was sharp, Gallen decided to go for the strikeouts in that second inning to keep the Yankees off the board.
"Gabi had a real good feel for what they were trying to do,¡± Gallen said. ¡°We both prepped a pretty good amount to kind of understand what we had to do to get those guys.¡±
It looked like Gallen was going to get through seven innings after he struck out the first two batters in the frame. That brought Wells to the plate, and Gallen thought he had him rung up on a check swing -- only to have third-base umpire Malachi Moore rule that Wells didn¡¯t go around.
That prolonged the at-bat, Wells wound up singling to right and manager Torey Lovullo went to the bullpen.
"I thought it was a swing,¡± Gallen said. ¡°Watched the video, and it wasn't called a swing, but ¡ to a fault sometimes I always think they swing, but this time I was like, 'That really looked like a swing.' I have a lot of texts on my phone right now reassuring me it was a swing.¡±
The outing was a nice rebound for Gallen after he didn¡¯t look sharp on Opening Day, allowing four runs over four innings to the Cubs.
In that game, his fastball command was spotty, which was an issue that plagued him at times in 2024 as well.
"The biggest thing for me is always my delivery,¡± Gallen said. ¡°I think when my delivery is in the right spot and I¡¯m on time and the tempo is good for the most part it should -- I don¡¯t want to say look like this [outing] -- but everything should be around the zone, everything should be moving late."