Rangers' Gallardo gets nod in Arizona

(SportsNetwork.com) - Yovani Gallardo has been nothing short of dominant in his career against the Arizona Diamondbacks, while younger hurler Archie Bradley has already shown an ability to match up against the best.

The two hurlers square off on Wednesday night when Gallardo's Texas Rangers wrap a quick two-game set with Bradley and the Diamondbacks.

Gallardo has won back-to-back starts since losing his Texas debut on April 6. The right-hander is coming off a 3-1 road victory over Seattle on Friday as he tossed six scoreless innings of six-hit ball. Gallardo fanned three and walked two, giving him just four free passes issued over his first three starts.

"More impressively tonight from Yovani was his ability to work vertical tonight," Texas manager Jeff Banister said.

Gallardo has been more than impressive in his career versus Arizona. A former long-time Milwaukee Brewer, the 29-year-old Gallardo is 7-0 with a 1.86 ERA in 10 matchups with the Diamondbacks and 5-0 with a 1.93 ERA in six starts at Arizona's Chase Field.

Bradley, meanwhile, will face a third straight Opening Day starter when he opposes Gallardo for Arizona.

The 22-year-old beat 2014 NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 11 in his major league debut, scattering a run and four walks over six innings with six strikeouts.

The right-handed Bradley then faced the San Francisco Giants and reigning World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner on Thursday and the young hurler was able to keep his team in a 7-6 win. Bradley did not factor into the decision, but allowed only two runs on four hits and two walks over 6 2/3 innings as the bullpen failed to hold a lead.

He became just the second pitcher in major league history to make his first two career regular-season starts against a reigning Cy Young winner and World Series MVP.

Texas grabbed a 7-1 win in Tuesday's opener, with Prince Fielder's two-run homer capping a four-run eighth inning. Fielder also had an RBI double in the first inning to help the Rangers snap a two-game slide.

Leonys Martin drove in a pair of insurance runs in the ninth inning with a single and Texas starter Nick Martinez yielded only a run on five hits over six innings in the no-decision.

"Impressive how (Martinez) moved the fastball around," said Rangers manager Jeff Banister.

Chase Anderson dazzled in seven innings of one-run ball for Arizona, allowing three hits while striking out five.

Yasmany Tomas, signed to a six-year, $68.5 million contract this past offseason, made his first major league start on Tuesday. The Cuban outfielder got the call at third base after Jake Lamb landed on the disabled list due to a stress reaction in his left foot.

Tomas went 2-for-3 with a run scored, but also committed one of three Arizona errors.

"We made a couple errors," said D-backs manager Chip Hale. "One of our trademarks is defense, and we didn't play very good defense tonight."

The Diamondbacks had won three of four coming in.

Texas and Arizona last faced each other during the 2013 season when they split four meetings of a home-and-home series.