Merrill Kelly Twirls Gem, Martinez Makes it Stand Up, Just Barely

Justin Martinez threw his 37th pitch of the night, a splitter in the dirt that Michael Harris swung and missed at for the final out of a nail-biting, 2-1 Diamondbacks victory over the Atlanta Braves. Martinez spun and slapped his glove, and blew out a big breath of relief before greeting his catcher for the celebration.

Immediately after the game, speaking to Dbacks.TV Jody Jackson, Martinez said, "Wow, my heart is beating like 100 MPH right now."

Torey Lovullo echoed that sentiment when asked about his heart rate. "Probably running a little hot, as everybody's was in the entire valley, and everybody in the dugout, and every player on the field. That's how it should be, because we're invested and we care."

Martinez had just completed a five-out save, despite a ninth inning in which he walked three batters, hit one more, and threw a wild pitch, allowing one run to score. He came into a jam in the eighth inning left by Ryan Thompson, striking out two to get out of it.

Merrill Kelly pitched a fantastic game, handing a 1-0 lead to his bullpen to start the eight inning. Mysteriously, Torey Lovullo turned to Ryan Thompson to start the inning. Working on back-to-back days this year, Thompson had allowed eight hits in 19 at-bats, for a .421 average. The first two he faced singled, upping that to 10-for-21 before striking out one and getting lifted, setting up Martinez's heroics and subsequent high-wire act.

Kelly outlasted Chris Sale in a classic pitcher's duel, throwing seven shutout innings, allowing just one hit and one walk. He was magnificent from beginning to end, retiring the first 12 batters he faced. The perfect game was broken up by a leadoff walk to Marcel Ozuna in the fifth.

Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a line drive single with two outs in the sixth for the first and only Braves hit off Kelly. He struck out eight batters, with his signature changeup once again doing most of the heavy lifting. He induced eight of his 14 whiffs on the pitch, but he utilized six different pitches to navigate the Braves' lineup.

There was some hard contact against Kelly, to be sure. In fact, nine of the 14 balls put in play were over 95 MPH, and five of those were line drives. Kelly's ERA dropped to 3.43 with a stellar 3.33 FIP to back it up. His record improved to 6-2.

Sale labored in the first inning, walking two batters, and needing 26 pitches to get out of the inning. He allowed a two-out, RBI single to Lourdes Gurriel Jr in the third inning, driving in Geraldo Perdomo who had gotten on by a walk.

The D-backs loaded the bases on Sale in the fifth, but couldn't get a run home. Arizona was just 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position against Sale, with four of those five outs coming on strikeouts. Sale struck out 10 batters in total and overall pitched a terrific game, allowing only that one run. But the D-backs made him work and got him out of the game after the sixth inning with 103 pitches thrown. Sale is now 3-4 despite a 2.93 ERA.

Ketel Marte hit an RBI single in the ninth, driving in Tim Tawa who had doubled and advanced to third on a ground out. That insurance run proved crucial as it turned out. It was Marte's own bobble on a what should have been a double play turn in the ninth to end the game. That ended up costing Martinez three more batters before he got out of the jam.

The D-backs have now won their first series since May 16-18 against the Rockies and improved to 30-31 on the season. They'll go for the sweep on Thursday morning, 9:15 a.m, MST, 12:15 p.m. EST. Brandon Pfaadt toes the rubber for Arizona. Right-hander Grant Holmes will start for Atlanta.