J.D. Martinez crushes Dodgers with historic four-homer game
The Arizona Diamondbacks remained the hottest team in the National League behind a historic performance by slugger J.D. Martinez.
The trade deadline acquisition has been swinging a powerful bat ever since joining the D-backs in July, and that continued in Monday’s 13-0 win against the Dodgers as Martinez became the 18th player in MLB history to hit four home runs in a single game.
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Amazingly, Martinez didn’t start his barrage until the fourth inning. He opened the game’s scoring with a long two-run shot to the left field bleachers at Dodger Stadium against starter Rich Hill. He would go on to hit home runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings respectively to secure his place in history.
The seventh and eighth inning homers were both solo blasts. The ninth-inning capper was good for two runs. Each of the four homers came off different pitchers (Hill, Pedro Baez, Josh Fields and Wilmer Font). Martinez finished the game 4-for-5 with six RBIs.
Martinez is the second player to hit four homers in a game this season. Scooter Gennett of the Reds did it against the Cardinals on June 6, driving in 10 runs in the process.
Overall the Diamondbacks hit six home runs on their way to their 11th straight win. The Dodgers have now lost nine of their last 10 after managing just three hits of their own. Diamondbacks starter Robbie Ray carried a perfect game into the sixth inning and finished with a career best 14 strikeouts over 7 2/3 innings.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
