Fastball

New York Mets' Slugger Joins Awesome Baseball History with Walk-Off Winner

Longtime slugger J.D. Martinez lifted the New York Mets to a walk-off win on Thursday night against the Miami Marlins, making some history along the way.

Brady Farkas

New York Mets designated hitter J.D. Martinez (28) watches his ninth inning walkoff two run home run against the Miami Marlins at Citi Field on June 13.
New York Mets designated hitter J.D. Martinez (28) watches his ninth inning walkoff two run home run against the Miami Marlins at Citi Field on June 13. / Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
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The New York Mets beat the Miami Marlins on Thursday night, 3-2, at Citi Field in New York.

In the win, Mets' slugger J.D. Martinez did something he's never done before during his illustrious career: hit a walk-off homer. That nugget put Martinez in a fun class of baseball history.

Per MLB.com researcher Sarah Langs on social media:

J.D. Martinez’s 320 HR prior to tonight are the 3rd-most HR before first career regular-season walk-off HR, behind only:

Mark Teixeira: 408
Jose Bautista: 336

h/t @EliasSports

That's a really cool moment for Martinez, who has had a great career. The 36-year-old is a six-time All-Star and a three-time Silver Slugger in addition to being a World Series champion (2018).

He's a lifetime .286 hitter who now has 321 career home runs and 1,023 RBI. This year, he's hitting .271 with six homers. He had signed a one-year deal with the Mets over the offseason.

After the win, the Mets are 30-37 and in third place in the National League East. Given where they are in the standings, there's a chance they could be sellers at the trade deadline and Martinez could end up being dealt to an offense-needy team.

In addition to the heroics from Martinez, Edwin Diaz provided some nice moments as well. The closer, who has struggled this year and just came off the injured list, earned the win in relief after tossing a scoreless inning.

The Mets will be back in action on Friday night when they host the San Diego Padres. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. ET as Matt Waldron (SD) pitches against Sean Manaea (NYM).

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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