The D-backs offense came alive on Wednesday, as it rode standout hitting performances from J.D. Martinez and Ketel Marte to a 10-3 victory over the Braves at Chase Field. With the win, Arizona took two out of three from Atlanta.
The D-backs took control of the game in the third with a four-run inning that was highlighted by a stand-up inside-the-park home run from Marte. They padded their lead in the fifth when Paul Goldschmidt smashed his second double of the game, and then scored on a two-run homer by Martinez. In the 8th, Martinez added another homer — a 410-foot, two-run shot — to add to the lead. Arizona ended the game with 8 extra-base hits.
“One of those days we’ve been looking for, for a while,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “I think offensively we did a number of things. … Nobody had a better day, obviously, than J.D. Martinez.”
In Aaron Blair’s first Major League start of the season, the right-hander surrendered five earned runs on five hits in three innings of work to the team that originally drafted him. Atlanta took a 1-0 lead in the first when Brandon Phillips singled and then scored on a Matt Kemp groundout, but it couldn’t keep pace with the D-backs’ bats.
Blair issued five walks, including two straight to begin the four-run third inning. The once highly regarded prospect was promoted from Triple-A Gwinnett to fill the rotation void created when Jaime Garcia was traded to the Twins. Blair was optioned back to Gwinnett after the game, and there’s a strong possibility Lucas Sims will be called up to fill that spot against the Dodgers next week.
“I couldn’t really locate the fastball when I needed to,” Blair said. “I had the slider and curveball for strikes when I needed it. I just fell behind and when I needed to make a pitch, it just wasn’t there.”
Arizona starter Patrick Corbin went six innings and held the Braves to two runs on seven hits to improve to 8-9 on the year.
Gregor Blanco reached on a single to lead off the game and subsequently stole second. He was then caught in a rundown after being caught in no-man’s land, and attempted to dodge a tag and slid into third base. He was initially called out, but after Lovullo challenged the call, Blanco was ruled safe and awarded a stolen base. He then scored on a sac fly by Jake Lamb to tie the game at 1.
“[Blair] had trouble making some pitches and we screwed up the rundown, which cost him a run,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “So, it just kind of got away from him there.”
After Lamb and Goldschmidt led off the third inning with back-to-back walks, Daniel Descalso sent them both home with a triple off the center field wall that left his bat at 101.3 mph, according to Statcast™. It was Descalso’s third triple of the year. He scored one batter later when Marte roped an inside-the-park homer to cap off a four-run D-backs third inning.
“It was nice,” Descalso said. “Had a chance to win the series today, after losing last night, and to have a happy flight. We scored a lot of runs today and had good at-bats up and down the lineup.”
Blair got a swing-and-miss with 11 of the 26 breaking balls (curveballs and sliders) he threw, but allowed the D-backs to put eight two-seam fastballs in play with an average exit velocity of 95.4 mph. He did not allow more than five two-seamers to be put in play during any of the 15 starts he made for Atlanta last year.
The Braves will resume their road trip when they begin a four-game series against the Phillies Friday at 6:05 p.m CT. Julio Teheran will attempt to extend his recent success and extend his dominance at Citizens Bank Park, where he’s produced a 1.55 ERA over six starts.
