J.D. Martinez crushes a three-run bomb for first hit as a D-back
Jul 24, 2017, 9:13 PM | Updated: Jul 25, 2017, 12:02 pm
J.D. Martinez clobbers a huge three-run home run to straightaway center field in the 6th for his first long ball with the D-backs!!! pic.twitter.com/xMpHIWMgfO
— TheRenderMLB (@TheRenderMLB) July 25, 2017
Missed opportunities wrote the recent narrative for the Arizona Diamondbacks, losers in six of their first nine games to begin the second half of 2017.
It was again the story through five-plus innings on Monday despite the D-backs rolling out the muscle-flexing batting order featuring newcomer J.D. Martinez.
Arizona was 4-for-13 with runners in scoring position and had left nine stranded on base in the sixth inning with no outs when, with two runners on, Martinez crushed a three-run shot to center field.
The hit off reliever Matt Wisler marked Martinez’s first as a Diamondback and gave his team an 8-2 lead en route to a 10-2 victory.
“Definitely felt good,” Martinez said, admitting he put extra pressure on himself to produce for his new team. “Just finally being able to get that monkey off my back and just get that first hit and being able to contribute to the guys on the team.
“You kind of want to get here and show everybody why you’re here, show everybody what you can do.”
It was tracked at 427 feet.
In his second at-bat after Arizona acquired him from the Detroit Tigers, a pitch by the Reds’ Tim Adleman hit Martinez in the hand, causing a contusion last Wednesday. Martinez returned Sunday and took a walk as a pinch-hitter against the Nationals before he was reinserted into the lineup Monday.
He smashed the homer to wrap his fourth at-bat.
“I kind of let it get away from me when I got in (the dugout) because I was happy, I was relieved,” Martinez said. “Obviously, I have a few years under my belt and stuff like that, and I have my track record, but it’s still different. You’re in a new state, new city, new team, new clubhouse, new brothers.”
Martinez batted fifth in the order, which was led off by David Peralta. A.J. Pollock, Jake Lamb and Paul Goldschmidt followed. That five-some recorded nine of the 10 RBI in the game and seven of the team’s 13 hits.
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