Mets suffer from a Gallen of trouble in loss to Arizona

Diamondbacks 5 Mets 1 (Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ.)

Mets Record: 23-14

Mets Streak: L 1

Mets Last 10: 4-6

WP: Zac Gallen (3-4)

LP: David Peterson (2-2)

Seat On The Korner: Zac Gallen

We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9 broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.

The Mets are glad they don't have to face Zac Gallen again this season. In his second start against them in a week, Gallen gave up just two hits and one run over seven innings, putting New York's offense to sleep on the way to a 5-1 victory and an appearance on Ralph Kiner's post-game show.

Gallen threw a season-high 101 pitches and struck out six in the outing. He walked three — all of them coming consecutively in the third inning, when the Mets scored their only run. The victory was Gallen's third in seven decisions this season, with two of them coming against the Mets, who lost to him 4-2 on May 1. He also became the first Diamondbacks starter to go seven innings this season.

In his two appearances against the Mets in 2025, Gallen has pitched 13 innings, giving up four hits and two runs.

Need To Know:

• The game was played on what would have been Willie Mays' 94th birthday had he not died last June 18. The Mets retired Mays' number 24 on Aug. 22, 2022.

• Of Pete Alonso's nine home runs this season, eight have come with two strikes on him. And, going back to last season, 11 of the last 12 Alonso homers have come with two strikes.

• Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno was scratched from the starting lineup an hour before the game. No reason was given.

• The Mets' Brandon Nimmo seemed to wrench his left knee retrieving a double into the left-field corner by Arizona's Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in the fourth inning, but Nimmo stayed in the game.

  
  

• David Peterson threw a season-high 104 pitches through six innings, giving up four runs on five hits with six strikeouts, four walks and a hit batsman.

• The sixth-inning home run Peterson yielded to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was only the third round-tripper the Mets starter has given up in seven starts this season, with the previous two coming in his first outing.

• The Mets have hit into six double plays in the first two games of the series.

• Diamondbacks first baseman Josh Nahler's baseball IQ has come into question twice this series. First, on Monday night, he took just a few steps off first base and had to stop at second on a drive off the centerfield wall. Then, in this game, he let a roller up the first-base line by Brandon Nimmo roll foul on what definitely would have been the second out in the ninth inning had he chosen to field it.

Turning Point:

David Peterson was cruising. The Mets starter retired nine of the first 10 Diamondbacks, with the only baserunner coming on a hit batsman in the second inning. But then things turned sour for the left-hander with the Mets leading 1-0.

It started with a double by Randal Grichuk that should have been an error by Mets third baseman Mark Vientos, who hat the ball skip between his legs and scoot into the left-field corner

Peterson walked Eugenio Suarez and got Josh Nahlor to hit into a force before Lourdes Gurriel Jr. slugged the first of his three hits, a double down the left-field line to tie the game. Peterson gave up another run on a groundout before getting out of the inning, but the two runs started Arizona on its way to defeating the Mets.

Three Keys:

Opportunity wasted

The Mets barely mustered any offense against Zac Gallen, but had a chance at a big inning when Gallen struggled to throw strikes in the third inning. Tyrone Taylor's speed kept the Mets out of what could have been an inning-ending double play before Gallen lost the strike zone. He walked Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto to load the bases before Pete Alonso took a 3-2 fastball up and in for a walk to force in what would be the Mets' only run.

That's because with Gallen on the ropes, Starling Marte — at DH batting fourth against the right-hander with Jesse Winker on the injured list — looked at three straight strikes — including a fastball down the middle for strike three — to end the threat.

No defense for this

The Mets defense also contributed to the defeat. First there was the "double" by Gurriel that went under Vientos' glove to start the fourth (see above). Then a passed ball by Francisco Alvarez allowed Gurriel to take third. He was able to score from there when Josh Naylor hit into a fielder's choice.

It's conceivable Arizona would have been kept off the board that inning without those misplays.

The Diamondbacks got their fifth and final run in the eighth when, after reliever Jose Butto walked Corbin Carroll leading off the inning and got a fly out, Tyrone Taylor booted Eugenio Suarez's single to center, allowing Carroll to hustle to third and then score on Naylor's fly ball to left.

Gurriel stays hot and burns Amazin's

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. might have gotten off to a slow start this season, but he began to find himself against the Mets at Citi Field last week and has looked good so far this series.

Gurriel went 3-for-4 with a single, double and home run to lead Arizona at the plate. He slammed a David Peterson offering on a line over the left-field fence in the sixth innning to stretch the Diamondback lead to 4-1, and he added a single against Butto in the seventh.

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