ST. LOUIS — Ketel Marte’s solo home run in the top of the fourth inning is the only run of the game as the Diamondbacks lead the St. Louis Cardinals after five innings on May 23 at Busch Stadium.
Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen has a shutout on 74 pitches, allowing only one hit and one walk while striking out three. Gallen was originally drafted by the Cardinals in the third round of the 2016 draft.
Marte got a two-strike fastball on the outside corner from Cardinals right-hander Miles Mikolas and unloaded on it to center field. Marte stood to admire the blast, which did not clear the center field wall by much. It was his eighth homer of the year and raised his OPS to .971 through 27 games.
Martinez returns, cheered by teammates
As right-hander Justin Martinez climbed aboard the team bus to the ballpark, his teammates began hollering in excitement. Martinez, the Diamondbacks’ fire-armed reliever, was back in the majors.
The warm welcome he received on May 23 might have been more personal in nature, but there is no denying what Martinez’s absence has meant — and what his return could mean — for the Diamondbacks and their sputtering bullpen.
Martinez was reinstated from the injured list ahead of the Diamondbacks’ series opener at Busch Stadium. Right-hander Christian Montes de Oca, who did not appear in a game, was optioned to make room.
Martinez, whose fastball velocity mysteriously fell off at times during the first month of the season, touched triple digits five times during an appearance with Triple-A Reno earlier in the week.
“I was happy,” Martinez said. “My velo had gone down and I was wondering what was going on. I started working and believing in the process.
“Shout-out to the trainers who did a really good job. Thank God. Right now, I can say I’m back.”
Martinez dealt with what was described as a “right shoulder fatigue” in April, going five days without appearing in a game. Shortly after returning, he saw his fastball gradually diminish over the span of a few outings, prompting the club to place him on the injured list with “right shoulder inflammation” and send him for an MRI.
The images showed no structural issues. Martinez wasn’t surprised because he wasn’t feeling any discomfort, but he said he was still in favor of getting tested because “sometimes you don’t feel it, but you’ve got something in there.”
He said he still isn’t sure why his velocity vanished.
“It is what it is, you know?” he said. “Everything is possible in baseball. You’ve got to be able to be ready for when that happens.”
With both Martinez and left-hander A.J. Puk on the injured list for the past three-plus weeks, the Diamondbacks’ bullpen has struggled to protect leads, tying for the league lead with 10 blown saves.
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo made it sound like he might not thrust Martinez back into the closer’s role right away, but he seemed eager for that to happen sometime soon.
“At some point, I’m going to find him and look for him to close games for us,” Lovullo said. “But for right now, I want to just see what it looks like.
“I’ll know two or three pitches into this outing how he’s feeling. He’s going to show us and tell us. The more information I get, the closer he gets to the very back end.”
Lovullo said he hopes Martinez’s return does for this year’s team what Paul Sewald did for the Diamondbacks at times in 2023 and 2024.
“When we traded for him, everybody dropped down a level,” Lovullo said. “Even when Sewald came back last year, everybody slotted down into a more comfortable version of what they were capable of doing and prepared to do.
“Not to say Kevin Ginkel or Shelby Miller can’t close games, but J-Mart is probably looked at in that space and now we can match up what might be the most important inning of the game in the seventh or the eighth with one of those two guys.”
Last year, Martinez’s fastball normally sat in the 100-101 mph range. Before he landed on the IL, it was in the mid-90s.
“It’s been good,” Martinez said. “I was feeling a little fatigued, but that was when they put me on the IL. My arm has been responding good. Every day it’s been feeling better and it’s gotten me to this point to be here again.”
He added: “I’m feeling pretty good. Excited to be back.”
Torey Lovullo playing hot hand with Zac Gallen’s catcher
Rather than having Gabriel Moreno behind the plate like he usually is for a series opener, the Diamondbacks are going with backup Jose Herrera.
Lovullo said he wanted to get another look at the pairing of right-hander Zac Gallen with Herrera.
“I know (Gallen has) thrown to Gabi and thrown well to Gabi, but I wanted to see what it looked like after what happened at home against Colorado,” Lovullo said.
“Maybe just a different version of a game-calling and a connection. I don’t know. I just wanted to look at it and see what it looks like today.”
Gallen gave up six runs in five innings with Moreno behind the plate last weekend against the Rockies. That continued what has been something of a trend.
In six starts when throwing to Moreno, Gallen has logged a 6.89 ERA. In four starts with Herrera, his ERA is at 2.92. The results, however, are not so cut and dried: Gallen’s best start of the year — his 13-strikeout effort against the Yankees on April 2 — came with Moreno behind the plate.
Lovullo said he talked it over with his pitching coaches but didn’t seek out Gallen for his feedback.
The only time Lovullo had a strict personal catcher situation was when he paired right-hander Zack Greinke with Jeff Mathis for most of the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
“I try not to get put into that situation, but if it works and both parties are functioning well I would consider something like that,” Lovullo said.
“Zac is in that category of guy for me. I know there is some familiarity that he likes and sequencing that he likes and if something like this comes up and it seems to work, I would, of course, stick with it. I’m not going to get married to it today, but I’m going to definitely take a look at it.”
Diamondbacks at Cardinals, 5:15 p.m., Apple TV+
Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (3-5, 5.14) vs. Cardinals RHP Miles Mikolas (3-2, 3.77).
At Busch Stadium: This game is part of the Friday Night Baseball MLB package on Apple TV+ and will air exclusively on that streaming platform. … Gallen is trying to get back on track after a couple of rough outings. Against the Colorado Rockies on May 17, Gallen was tagged for six earned runs in five innings and gave up four home runs, tying the most he’s ever allowed in a game. May 11 against the Dodgers, Gallen took the loss with four runs allowed on 10 hits in 5 ⅔ innings. He is 1-1 with a 3.12 ERA in three career starts against the Cardinals. … Mikolas has not allowed more than three earned runs in any of his past five starts and has earned wins in his past two. He is 2-2 with a 3.26 career ERA in six games (four starts) against the Diamondbacks, but lost to them in April of last year at Chase Field, giving up five earned runs in 4 ⅔ innings.
Coming up
May 24: At St. Louis, 11:15 a.m., Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (5-2, 3.26) vs. Cardinals LHP Matthew Liberatore (3-3, 2.92).
May 25: At St. Louis, 11:15 a.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (7-3, 3.81) vs. Cardinals RHP Sonny Gray (5-1, 4.02).
May 26: At Chase Field, 5:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (1-1, 4.60) vs. Pirates LHP Andrew Heaney (3-3, 2.91).
What to know about the St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals dropped two of three to the Detroit Tigers earlier this week, their first series loss since the end of April. Starting with a doubleheader sweep of the Reds on April 30, they have gone 15-6 and have been as high as six games over .500. It was quite a month for a team that did almost nothing to add to its roster during the winter and actively attempted to trade veteran 3B Nolan Arenado. They are winning more with a well-rounded roster than with individual stars who are carrying outsized loads. Six of their regular position players have an OPS of .728 or higher – and it would be seven when counting C Ivan Herrera, who has played only 18 games after missing about a month with a knee injury. Their starting rotation has been similarly competent, with all of their starters owning ERAs between 2.92 and 4.18. The group’s 3.65 ERA is the fifth-best mark in the National League. The bullpen owns a 3.86 ERA, good for sixth.