Player of the gameJustin WrobleskiLAD6.0ip 6h 0er 4k
It took Ketel Marte over 11 years in the big leagues before he hit his first career walk-off homer, and just a little more than two weeks to hit his second. Marte helped the Diamondbacks salvage a split of their four-game set against the Dodgers with a one-out, ninth inning homer that led to a 3-2 walk-off win at Chase Field on Thursday. Marte's first walk-off homer came on May 19 against the Giants when he hit a three-run homer off left-hander Matt Gage. At the time, Marte joked that it was the first walk-off homer of his life outside of a softball game in his native Dominican Republic. On Thursday, one inning after the Diamondbacks rallied for a pair of runs to tie the game, the switch-hitting Marte once again faced a left-hander -- this time, Dodgers closer Tanner Scott -- and smacked a first-pitch fastball over the wall in left. "It was very special," Marte said of the homer. "Like you mentioned, now I have two, and since it was against the Dodgers, it was big for me." Said Arizona manager Torey Lovullo, "Ketel Marte is an amazing baseball player and the best players do the best things at the most critical times, and he basically stepped up there and won us a baseball game. And it was a great moment for him, a great moment for this team." The homer came after Lovullo gave Marte an off-day on Wednesday night because the second baseman said he needed it due to fatigue. When Marte gets fatigued, his hamstrings and back tighten up, and it has been Lovullo's experience that if he pushes him to play, he risks injury. "I want everybody to understand that we’re all human and we all need a day here or there," Marte said. "Everybody needs those off-days. When I’m off, by the time the seventh inning comes around, I’m preparing and warming up in case Torey needs me."
