LOS ANGELES — J.D. Martinez hit a record-tying four home runs for the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night, tying the major league record in a power show at Dodger Stadium.
He struck out his first time up, then connected four times in a row, including shots in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.
“It’s a blessing,” he said.
Martinez became the 18th player in big league history to accomplish the feat and first for Arizona. He’s the 16th overall to do it since 1900 — Scooter Gennett of the Cincinnati Reds hit four consecutive home runs on June 6 against St. Louis.
Martinez hit a two-run home run in the fourth off Dodgers starter Rich Hill. He hit a solo drive off Pedro Baez in the seventh, and another solo shot off Josh Fields in the eighth.
Going into the ninth, Martinez was due up fifth. After three batters safely reached, Martinez stepped to the plate with history one swing away.
DIAMONDBACKS 13, DODGERS 0
“Let’s go up there and keep doing what you’re doing,” he said he told himself.
Martinez capped his night by pulling a two-run home run to left field off Wilmer Font. The big hits helped Arizona rout the NL West-leading Dodgers 13-0 for its 11th consecutive victory.
“You want the game to keep going,” he said.
Martinez now has 34 home runs this season, 18 since being traded from Detroit to the Diamondbacks in mid-July for minor leaguers.
The 30-year-old outfielder hit a career-high 38 home runs for the Tigers in 2015 when he made the American League All-Star team.
Martinez joined the likes of Hall of Famers Willie Mays, Mike Schmidt and Lou Gehrig with four-home run games. All-Star sluggers such as Josh Hamilton, Carlos Delgado and Gil Hodges also did it, along with lesser-known players such as Pat Seerey and Mark Whiten.
“I work really hard on my craft,” Martinez said.
NATIONALS 7, MARLINS 2 Anthony Rendon drove in four runs, Daniel Murphy drove in three more and visiting Washington overcame a camera-denting home run by Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton.
PIRATES 12, CUBS 0 Josh Bell broke the National League record for most home runs by a rookie switch hitter, hitting his 24th of the season off hurting Chicago ace Jake Arrieta to lead host Pittsburgh over Chicago. Bell moved ahead of former Atlanta star Chipper Jones, who hit 23 for the Braves in 1995. Arrieta was removed later in the third inning with an apparent right leg injury. The 2015 Cy Young Award winner clutched his right leg several times following a pitch to Bell. Arrieta attempted to throw a practice pitch after being visited by trainers but failed to release the ball while in obvious pain.
CARDINALS 2, PADRES 0 Carlos Martinez threw a three-hitter and struck out 10, Yadier Molina hit a two-run single and visiting St. Louis beat San Diego for its fourth victory in five games. Martinez allowed only three singles and walked three. The Padres didn’t get a runner into scoring position the whole game and never had two runners on in any inning.
REDS 5, BREWERS 4 Billy Hamilton hit a home run with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning, sending host Cincinnati past Milwaukee. Hamilton, who leads the majors with 58 stolen bases, sent a drive into the left-field seats for his fourth home run of the season. Raisel Iglesias (3-2) pitched a perfect ninth for the win.
ROCKIES 4, GIANTS 3 Carlos Gonzalez drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk in the ninth, and host Colorado halted a four-game skid by beating San Francisco.
METS 11, PHILLIES 7 Jose Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera each homered and New York built a big lead to beat visiting Philadelphia to end a four-game losing streak. Rafael Montero (4-9) won his second consecutive start.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
YANKEES 7, ORIOLES 4 Starlin Castro homered and drove in three runs, Didi Gregorius also went deep and visiting New York fueled its playoff push with a victory over Baltimore. ROYALS 7, TIGERS 6 Visiting Kansas City hit three home runs and got two spectacular defensive plays in a victory over Detroit. Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez and Alcides Escobar homered for the Royals, but the biggest plays of the game came on defense. Alex Gordon reached well over the left-field fence to rob Mikie Mahtook of a three-run home run, while Lorenzo Cain’s sliding catch took two RBI away from Jose Iglesias.
INDIANS 5, WHITE SOX 3 Trevor Bauer was sharp again to win his eighth consecutive decision, and visiting Cleveland beat Chicago for its 12th consecutive victory.
ANGELS 11, ATHLETICS 9 (11) Visiting Los Angeles employed an American League-record 12 pitchers and Kole Calhoun hit a two-run triple in the 11th inning Monday to beat Oakland. Fernando Salas (1-0), the ninth Angels pitcher, tossed a perfect 10th for the victory.
ASTROS 6, MARINERS 2 Alex Bregman had a tiebreaking two-run double in visiting Houston’s four-run seventh inning, and Dallas Keuchel (Arkansas Razorbacks) pitched effectively into the eighth to lead the Astros to their fifth consecutive victory.
RAYS 11, TWINS 4 Corey Dickerson hit his 26th home run and also doubled twice, powering host Tampa Bay past Minnesota. The Twins’ lead for the second wild-card spot was trimmed to a half-game by the Angels.
BLUE JAYS 10, RED SOX 4 Steve Pearce had three of Toronto’s 14 hits to lead visiting Toronto over Boston and send Red Sox starter Rick Porcello to his major league-leading 16th loss. Boston lost for the fourth time in five games. Its lead in the AL East was trimmed to 2½ games over the New York Yankees, who beat Baltimore in the afternoon.
INTERLEAGUE
RANGERS 8, BRAVES 2 Elvis Andrus, Nomar Mazara and Rougned Odor homered, Andrew Cashner pitched six innings and visiting Texas beat Atlanta. The Rangers have won two consecutive and five of seven to stay relevant in the AL wild-card race, beginning the night three games out of the second wild-card spot.
Sports on 09/05/2017