D-backs shut out by Brewers, Ketel Marte leaves with hamstring injury
Jun 22, 2021, 11:02 PM | Updated: 11:03 pm
Ketel Marte of the Arizona Diamondbacks slams his helmet down after injuring himself while running the bases against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning at Chase Field on June 22, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona.
PHOENIX – The struggles continue for the Arizona Diamondbacks as Ketel Marte exited in the first inning on Tuesday against the Milwaukee Brewers with left hamstring tightness, and the offense seemed to exit the game with him in a 5-0 loss.
Marte hit a ground-rule double off Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Freddy Peralta that went over the right field wall near the pool for a ground rule double.
As he was rounding first base, Marte appeared to grimace and come in very slowly to second while calling for the trainer from the dugout.
He was immediately replaced by Josh Reddick on base and came out of the game.
“Ketel is doing OK. He’s got some left hamstring tightness and he’ll be day-to-day,” manager Torey Lovullo said postgame via Zoom.
“Deep down, I think we dodged a bullet there. When you watch one of your athletes come off the field, you’re always holding your breath that you’re going to get the best possible news, and I think that’s what happened in this case.”
Lovullo said he does not believe Marte will require any imaging on the hamstring.
“He’s being evaluated now, he’ll continue to be evaluated, and, like I said, the fact that he’s day-to-day is a very encouraging step in this process to get him back on the field,” he added.
The double extended Marte’s current hitting streak to seven games. Over that streak, Marte has hit .461 with four doubles and seven RBI.
His double ended up being one of only two hits the team would have on the night.
Peralta for the Brewers kept D-backs hitters off balance for his entire outing, with his only trouble coming in the first inning when he gave up the hit to Marte and walked David Peralta. After that, he didn’t allow a single base runner.
“It’s the second time he’s done that to us,” Lovullo said. “It’s a combination of a lot of things he had working today.”
His counterpart Zac Gallen had a similar night on the mound for the D-backs. In his second start since returning from injury, Gallen returned to his dominating form.
His only mistake of the day was to the first batter of the game, Kolten Wong, who took him deep for a solo home run. Gallen proceeded to lock it down after that, mowing down batters and striking out the side in the third inning.
He didn’t allow another hit until the fourth inning when he gave up a pair of singles to Daniel Vogelbach and Christian Yelich, but he got out of the inning without any further damage.
He struck out two more batters in the fifth before his night was over due to still being on a limited pitch count.
“Very encouraged by the seven or eight strikeouts and just pounding the zone with all of his stuff,” Lovullo said. “It was something we needed and unfortunately, we couldn’t get anything going offensively to give him some run support.”
Gallen went five innings and allowed one earned run on three hits with eight strikeouts and no walks issued.
The following inning, Arizona’s unreliable bullpen fell apart. After an error on third baseman Josh Van Meter allowed Vogelbach to get on base for the second time, he moved to second on a walk and then scored on an RBI single by Omar Navarez off Stefan Crichton.
Vogelbach experienced a leg injury of his own on the play, which caused him to come in to home slow and limping. The D-backs did not capitalize on the situation, despite catcher Daulton Varsho screaming for the ball to be thrown in for the out, and allowed him to score despite the situation appearing to be an easy out.
“I know that Daulton Varsho was doing his best to be vocal and let people know what was going on,” Lovullo said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t execute and take advantage of a situation where we could have saved a run.”
Crichton then walked Willy Adames and gave up a 2-run single to Luis Urias to put the Brewers up 4-0. He left the game without getting an out. His ERA currently sits at 6.04.
Yelich added a solo home run that splashed down in the pool in right field off Riley Smith in the eighth inning.
UP NEXT:
The D-backs still have a chance to win their first series since April in game three on Wednesday. Caleb Smith will get the start with first pitch scheduled for 12:40 p.m.
Smith has continued to be impressive as a starter this season. The 29-year old lefty is 2-2 in five starts with a 3.21 ERA, 61 strikeouts and a 1.256 WHIP. He has allowed two runs or fewer in three of his last four starts.
