The Arizona Diamondbacks are leading the rival Los Angeles Dodgers 1-0 in the 2023 NLDS. Zac Gallen, who has helped Arizona get to this point by developing into an ace, is ready to take the mound and help lead his team to another win.

After sweeping the Milwaukee Brewers in their own building to win the Wild Card round, they are onto the divisional series. The Dodgers are expected to win but a shellacking of Clayton Kershaw gave Arizona an easy Game 1 win. The key for the D-Backs is to stay unwound and relaxed.

Gallen is confident in his team and knows that, since the Diamondbacks are a team that is merely happy to be here, it takes a lot of weight off of his team, according to Maria Guardado of MLB.com.

“I think I said it in Milwaukee: Nobody expects us to be here,” Gallen said Sunday, via MLB.com. “We're kind of playing with house money. You see us play our best baseball when we're playing kind of easy, carefree. And I think that's just the mentality I'll have out there, the mentality the other 26 guys are going to have, too.”

While the Diamondbacks did lead the NL West for much of the season and suffered big losing skids that allowed the Dodgers to run away with the division crown, they are still a young bunch that not many people expected to see in the playoffs. They are facing a Dodgers team that has been a postseason mainstay for the last decade.

Gallen is one of the main stars along with presumptive NL Rookie of the Year Corbin Carroll. A deep squad featuring youngsters Gabriel Moreno and Geraldo Perdomo and veterans like Ketel Marte, Merrill Kelly, Tommy Pham, Christian Walker and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. make the Diamondbacks a feisty squad. They are on the rise and ready to make some noise.

The mentality of the underdog is key for a team like the D-Backs, who haven’t been to the postseason since 2017. They can enjoy the moment now before potentially becoming a team that is expected to compete for the playoffs year in and year out.

The Diamondbacks will look to build on their series lead in Game 2 on Monday night as Gallen duels with Bobby Miller.