Field Level Media
Jun 22, 2023
Ketel Marte's three-run blast powered the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 5-3 victory and a delayed series win over the host Washington Nationals on Thursday afternoon.
Tommy Henry (4-1) went 6 2/3 innings for the Diamondbacks in a strong start. He allowed just one run on seven hits and struck out five while retiring seven of the final eight batters he faced.
It was a 2-1 game when the D-backs pulled away from the Nationals in the seventh inning on the home run by Marte to take a commanding four-run lead.
Nationals manager Dave Martinez was ejected from the game in the top of the fifth after a lengthy screaming match with home plate umpire Doug Eddings.
The Diamondbacks had won the series' first two games in early June. Thursday's tilt was the makeup of a June 8 postponement due to air quality issues from the wildfires in Canada.
This win for the Diamondbacks marked their 11th win in the past 16 games, while for the Nationals, this was their 14th loss in the past 17 games.
The D-backs' rally in the seventh got going when Alek Thomas reached first on a throwing error by Luis Garcia. Reliever Jordan Weems got two straight outs before walking Geraldo Perdomo.
Weems then left a fastball up high to Marte, who drove it into right field for his 12th home run.
Nationals starter Jake Irvin (1-4) put in a solid outing for the Nationals, tying his career high with six strikeouts. He allowed five hits and two runs (one earned) through six innings.
The Diamondbacks opened the scoring in the first with a Christian Walker single into center field that scored Corbin Carroll from first, thanks in part to a fielding error by Derek Hill.
The Nationals answered in the third with a Lane Thomas solo shot that just barely cleared the left-field wall to tie the game at one. Thomas extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
The D-backs struck back in the top of the fourth. Carroll led off the inning with a single, stole second and then advanced to third on an infield popup that Luis Garcia allowed to drop for a single.
Emmanuel Rivera was able to drive Carroll home with a sacrifice fly to center to put the D-backs back up 2-1.
The Nationals pushed across consolation runs in the ninth with a two-run homer from Riley Adams to make it 5-3.
Adams finished 3-for-4, adding two singles to go along with the home run.
Arizona's Scott McGough closed out the hopes of a comeback by retiring the next two batters to earn his fifth save of the year.
--Field Level Media