Ketel Marte wastes little time, blasts two homers off Stephen Strasburg
Jun 15, 2019, 3:57 PM | Updated: 6:19 pm
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 15: Ketel Marte #4 of the Arizona Diamondbacks celebrates as he runs the bases after hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on June 15, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
(Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
Arizona Diamondbacks center fielder Ketel Marte needed just one swing of the bat Saturday afternoon to make an impact against the Washington Nationals.
Turning on the first pitch of the game, the outfielder jumped on Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg, sending a 374-foot moonshot to the stands.
First pitch of the game… GONE courtesy of Ketel Marte. #VoteKetel #VoteKetel #VoteKetel #VoteKetel #VoteKetel @Dbacks are on the board in the top of the first. pic.twitter.com/EOIFNxzVnJ
— FOX Sports Arizona (@FOXSPORTSAZ) June 15, 2019
And just like that, the D-backs had an early lead.
The first-inning blast marked Marte’s second career leadoff homer, with his first coming on June 2 against the New York Mets.
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He’s also the just the sixth D-back to homer on the first pitch of the game. Jarrod Dyson was the last to accomplish the feat on June 10 against the Philadelphia Phillies.
On the flip side, Marte’s first-pitch home run was the first ever surrendered by Strasburg on his first pitch of the game.
But Marte’s day was not over there.
With no outs and up 5-3 in the fourth inning, Marte changed up his plan of attack, waiting for the right pitch.
He found it on the fifth toss of the at-bat, crushing a four-seam fastball 433 feet into right-center field.
Hey @MLB, we’ll even write the tweet for you:
Ketel Marte with his 4th multi-homer game of the season – Exhibit #284 for why he should start the #AllStarGame. #VoteKetel pic.twitter.com/QIFVQeuwvw
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) June 15, 2019
The HR marked Marte’s fourth multi-homer game of the season. He now sits at 19 home runs, passing Eduardo Escobar’s 17 for first on the team.
With his performance Saturday, Marte surpassed Escobar in runs scored (46) and sits just one hit behind the third baseman with 81. Marte also sits in second in RBI with 49.
And while Marte leads the way with two homers, he wasn’t the only D-back to go yard against the Nationals.
Three batters after Marte’s first blast of the game, Adam Jones went deep, hitting a 379-foot bomb to left field.
Christian Walker followed it up in the second inning down 3-2, needing just three pitches to tie the game with a 380-foot HR.
In the eighth inning, Kevin Cron got in on the scoring, roping a 407-foot homer for the first baseman’s third HR of his career.
All told, the D-backs accounted for five dingers in Saturday’s contest, beating the Nationals 10-3.
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