Ketel Marte Moves Closer to Baseball Immortality in NLCS Game 5 Loss to Phillies
The Arizona Diamondbacks are one loss away from elimination after losing in game 5 of the NLCS on Saturday night.
The Phillies beat the Diamondbacks 6-1 to take a 3-2 series lead in the best-of-seven NLCS. The series now shifts back to Philadelphia for Game 6.
Arizona is seeking its first trip to the World Series since 2001, when they won their only title by beating the New York Yankees.
Despite the loss, Diamondbacks' infielder Ketel Marte continues his impressive run this postseason. He went 1-for-4 and is now hitting .372 these playoffs. He's 16-for-43 and owns an even .400 on-base percentage.
By getting a hit in Game 5, he also continued to move closer to playoff baseball immortality.
Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com:
Ketel Marte has a 14-game hitting streak to start his postseason career, the 2nd-longest hit streak to start a postseason career, behind only:
1995-96 Marquis Grissom: 15
Grissom, the former Gold Glove outfielder, was playing for the Atlanta Braves at that time. They beat the Cleveland franchise in the 1995 World Series before losing to the Yankees in 1996.
Marte is hitting .383 for his playoff career, having also made the playoffs in 2017 with the D'Backs.
The 30-year-old had another very productive season in Arizona, hitting .276 with 25 homers and 82 RBI. He stole eight bases and posted an .844 OPS.
Marte has spent part of nine seasons in the big leagues with the Mariners and Diamondbacks. Acquired from Arizona before the 2017 season, he's a lifetime .279 hitter with 107 home runs. He made the All-Star Game in 2019.
Game 6 of the NLCS will be played Monday night. Merrill Kelly (ARI) pitches against Aaron Nola (PHI).
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