Field Level Media
24 May 2026, 19:49 GMT+10
(Photo credit: Anna Carrington-Imagn Images)
Three-time All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte has spent much of this season underperforming with the bat.
But the Arizona Diamondbacks star is on a hot streak and has increased his batting average 42 points in just seven games entering Sunday afternoon's contest against the Colorado Rockies in Phoenix.
Marte went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer to lead Arizona to a 5-4 victory over the Rockies on Saturday night. The Diamondbacks improved to 2-1 in the four-game series that will conclude on Sunday.
Marte's homer came in the fourth inning, when he slammed a first-pitch fastball from Michael Lorenzen 424 feet to right field.
That was the signature swing of the night as Marte improved to 14-for-28 (.500) during the seven-game stretch. He has three homers, three doubles, nine RBIs and has scored nine times while lifting his batting average to a season-best .251.
Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said Marte is locked in and not swinging at pitches out of the zone.
'When he's stubborn, you can see these results; that's what happens,' Lovullo said.
Not surprisingly, the Diamondbacks are 6-1 during Marte's hot streak.
Nolan Arenado helped the Arizona cause with a two-run double against his former club on Saturday. Arenado has 11 extra-base hits (nine doubles, two homers) this month.
Left-handed-hitting TJ Rumfield homered to left-center as part of a 3-for-4 night for the Rockies, who have dropped 10 of their past 14 games.
Rumfield's blast ended a power drought that saw Colorado match a franchise record by going seven games without a homer. The Rockies previously had seven-game outages in 2007 and 2014.
Troy Johnston had two hits and an RBI to raise his batting average to .323, and Hunter Goodman also had two hits for Colorado.
Rumfield, who is batting .289, leads major league rookies with 54 hits.
'TJ put up four solid at-bats on a night in which the ball definitely wasn't flying,' Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. 'To get it the other way, that's real strength. TJ's had a solid approach since the beginning of the year.'
Colorado's Jake McCarthy, who spent the past five seasons with Arizona, is just 1-for-13 in the series.
Rockies infielder Willi Castro was scratched prior to Saturday's game due to low-back tightness. Castro told reporters he thinks he'll miss two to three more games.
Arizona placed left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on the 10-day injured list Saturday because of a hamstring strain. He was hurt during the sixth inning of Friday's game while making a sliding catch of Rumfield's fly to shallow left.
The Diamondbacks were mindful that Gurriel returned to action last month after a right ACL tear sustained last September. He was back roughly 7 1/2 months after being hurt.
'He probably would have gotten better in three or four days, but we wanted to make sure that we give him enough time, given what he's worked through, and put his body through to get back to this point,' Lovullo said.
Rockies left-hander Jose Quintana (2-2, 4.08 ERA) will oppose Diamondbacks right-hander Ryne Nelson (1-3, 5.19) on Sunday.
Quintana, 37, beat the Texas Rangers 7-6 on Monday when he gave up three runs and seven hits over 5 2/3 innings. He has struggled against the Diamondbacks, going 1-3 with a 6.85 ERA in nine career starts.
Arenado is a lowly 3-for-26 against Quintana despite hitting two homers, and Corbin Carroll is just 1-for-10 vs. the left-hander. Marte is 5-for-14 with a homer.
Nelson is winless in seven starts since defeating the New York Mets on April 8. He is 1-1 with an 8.80 ERA in three career starts vs. Colorado.
The Rockies' Ezequiel Tovar is 3-for-7 against Nelson.
--Field Level Media
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