Martinez’s four home runs against L.A. were a feat rarer than a perfect game — which Ray had for five innings in the Diamondbacks’ shutout win.
If Labor Day is indeed the last day of summer, then J. D. Martinez sent us out in style. The Arizona Diamondbacks slugger became the 18th player in major league history to hit four home runs in one game, a feat rarer than a perfect game… which we had for five innings in this game, making Arizona’s 13-0 shutout over the slumping Los Angeles Dodgers one of the craziest games of any year.
Even Zack Greinke was seen laughing and chatting things up in the Diamondbacks’ dugout in the ninth inning.
Martinez homered against four different pitchers, belting a no-doubter off Rich Hill in the fourth inning and connecting in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings off Pedro Baez, Josh Fields and Wilmer Font. The final blast came off a 1-0 slider from Font, a 406-foot line shot to left field. It was Martinez’s shortest home run of the evening; the other three traveled 439,428 and 424 feet.
Pause for a moment to let that soak in. Think of how difficult it is to hit a baseball. Then think of how difficult it is to hit one 400-plus feet. Then think of the «impossible»: doing it four times in one game. Heck, Martinez had more home runs than the Dodgers had hits on Monday. Does summer have to end?
. @JDMartinez14 makes history. #JustDingers pic.twitter.com/vyRqYQvjkY
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) September 5,2017
The day actually began with bad news for the Diamondbacks: MVP candidate Paul Goldschmidt left the team to fly back to Phoenix to get an MRI on his sore right elbow. Goldschmidt tried to talk himself into the lineup on Monday, as MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert reported, and is expected to rejoin the team Tuesday. Considering he had hit four home runs in his past eight games, the elbow didn’t seem to be hindering his production. Still, check the news on Tuesday for updates.
Then there was Robbie Ray. Before Martinez, we thought Ray’s performance was going to be the big highlight of the night: He threw one of the most dominating games by any pitcher this season as the Diamondbacks won their 11th game in a row — and the ninth in a row in which they haven’t trailed. Only one other team in the past 25 years has done that. It got so ugly that Dodgers fans started booing, and that was before Martinez cracked his final two home runs.
Dodgers fans losing their minds and the team already has more wins than all last season
— Brandon Warne (@Brandon_Warne) September 5,2017
Ray took a perfect game into the sixth inning as he fanned 10 of the first 15 batters he faced, becoming the first pitcher to record four 10-strikeout games against the Dodgers in one season.
