Diamondbacks’ Ketel Marte blasts leadoff home run vs. Mets

The Arizona Diamondbacks kept the slug going early Sunday against the New York Mets, as Ketel Marte opened the ballgame with his fourth leadoff home run of the season in a 5-4 win.

Batting from the right side, Marte stayed back on a 1-1 curveball from Mets left-hander Jose Quintana and shot it 416 feet to center field.

It was a welcome sight for Marte, who entered the game 2-for-31 since his 21-game hitting streak came to a close. The solo shot was his 11th homer of the season, one back of Christian Walker for the team lead. Eight of his 11 long balls this year have come from the right side.

It appeared the home run ball hit a fan in the head area, and cameras caught her holding her face while Marte rounded the bases.

Wake and rake! 💪@ketel_marte4 and @yunitogurriel go yard in the 1st! pic.twitter.com/FV3AuzkaCo

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) June 2, 2024

Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who missed Saturday’s game while under the weather, cracked a 1-2 fastball up in the zone 403 feet to left field two batters later. The ball nearly landed in the second deck but smacked the facing.

Gurriel homered once in May after hitting five over the first 18 games of the season. He has hits in 11 of his last 13 games.

Gurriel’s home run was the sixth Diamondbacks homer over 14 innings of play.

Marte later hit the game-winning home run, a two-run shot in the ninth inning. His 12th homer also came from the right side against Mets southpaw Jake Diekman.

The Diamondbacks scored 19 runs on Friday and Saturday after putting up nine combined during their previous six games.

Arizona did not homer from May 24-30, but Eugenio Suarez, Joc Pederson and Walker went yard on Friday to snap the streak in a 10-9 loss.

Walker hit a grand slam on Saturday in a 10-5 victory.

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