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Fox Sports
6 days ago
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Arizona Diamondbacks ace Gallen labors in latest start of up-and-down season
Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Zac Gallen has been one of baseball's best pitchers the past three seasons, the player the Arizona Diamondbacks could rely on when things weren't go so well. The Diamondbacks are in a rut and not even their ace has been able to pull them out of it. Gallen (3-7) labored for the fourth straight start, allowing six runs in less than six innings of a 10-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday. 'I don't want to be overly critical of Zac because he's so good and can be an elite, dominant major league pitcher for his next start to the rest of the season, but at this point I know how frustrated he is — I can see it,' Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. 'The inconsistencies of results have been there, so it's an indication that he's grinding for sure.' Gallen has been grinding more this season perhaps more than any other time since he arrived in the desert in 2019. The right-hander won at least 12 games the previous three seasons — a high of 17 in 2023 — has annually been in the mix for the NL Cy Young Award, finishing third two seasons ago. Gallen has been dominant at times this season, labored others. The 29-year-old opened the season by allowing four runs in four innings against the Chicago Cubs, then tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings at Yankee Stadium his next start. The up and down continued from there. Gallen had consecutive games of allowing one run in wins over the New York Mets, but also has allowed at least four runs seven times — one more than the entire 2024 season. He has allowed 19 earned runs over 22 innings his last four starts and his 5.54 ERA is on pace to be the highest of his career by more than a run. The biggest issue: walks. Gallen has been a pitcher who's around the plate most of his career, yet has struggled at times to find the zone this season. He's walked 32 already this season at a rate of 4.2 per nine innings — well over his career average of 2.9. Gallen walked three against the Pirates, all to lead off innings. All three scored. 'Obviously, it's really frustrating because for me, I'm not really trying to walk anybody,' said Gallen, who allowed five earned runs on five hits in five-plus innings. 'There pitches I missed by an entire plate, trying to go in and throwing it in the other batter's box. It just feels very uncharacteristic, in a way, that walks been an issue." Gallen had been the Arizona's rock, the player they could count on after a difficult loss or stretch of games. He couldn't come through against the Pirates, extending a stretch where nothing seems to be going right for the Diamondbacks. The loss to the Pirates came a night after Arizona gave up seven runs in the eighth inning of a 9-6 loss to the Pirates. Above .500 since the second game of the season, the Diamondbacks are now 27-28 after their seventh loss in eight games. 'In this game, when you're down it'll get you, that's for sure,' Gallen said. 'Obviously, you can't say keep doing what we're doing, but just keep plugging away, just kind of keep hitting that rock and one day it will break.' Based on Gallen's past performances, it's just a matter of time. ___ AP MLB: recommended
USA Today
20-03-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Mortgage rates stuck in a rut as economy turns gloomy. What's next for the housing market?
Mortgage rates stuck in a rut as economy turns gloomy. What's next for the housing market? Show Caption Hide Caption How far did the US fall in the world happiness rankings? The U.S. has dropped to its lowest spot yet on the World Happiness Report. The Nordic countries still dominate the top of the list. Rates for home loans ticked up fractionally but stayed in the same narrow range they've been in for several months. In the week ending March 20, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.67%, Freddie Mac announced Thursday. That's only slightly up from 6.65% last week, but not low enough to spark major moves in the mortgage market: applications for home loans were down 6.2%, the Mortgage Bankers Association said. Those figures don't include fees or points, and rates in some parts of the country may be higher or lower than the national average. If mortgage rates aren't making much headway one way or the other this year, neither is the housing market itself. Sales of previously-owned homes jumped in February, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday, after falling in January. When it comes to new housing stock, economic indicators are also mixed. Builders broke ground on more new homes than expected in February, the Commerce Department reported earlier this week. The pace set in February was a 12-month high, and may have been an attempt to get ahead of tariffs. Indeed, a measure of homebuilder sentiment fell to a seven-month low in March. Many Americans considering buying a home have waited for years for rates to stabilize or inventory to become available. But analysts are increasingly concerned that deteriorating economic conditions will simply sideline many would-be buyers. 'Consumer worries about losing their jobs are at levels normally seen during recessions,' wrote Apollo Global Management Chief Economist Torsten Slok in a note out Sunday. 'A record-high share of consumers think business conditions are worsening,' Slok added. 'The bottom line is that consumer sentiment is deteriorating at an alarming rate.' Nancy Vanden Houten, lead U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, echoed that view in a note sent after the existing-home sales data. 'A recent downtick in mortgage rates may lend some support to home sales in the months ahead, but that could be countered by growing uncertainty on the part of households about the economy,' she wrote. 'We look for sales to move sideways in 2025.' In March, homebuilders reported that the number of prospective buyers taking tours was at its lowest in 15 months. Some observers believe only outside-the-box thinking will solve the affordability crisis in housing. As previously reported, one woman in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area, is building tiny homes in a factory to help mitigate rising costs and lack of inventory.
