D-backs and Giants Tie on Another Good Day for Offense

The Arizona Diamondbacks can hit. That's been the case almost all of spring, whether it's the front-line starters or the bench players and minor leaguers. And it was the case again on Saturday in their 7-7 tie with the San Francisco Giants.

D-backs on the Mound

Merrill Kelly started for Arizona, and pitched five innings. Four of those innings were excellent, but some missed locations led to three solo homers in the fourth inning by Matt Chapman, Patrick Bailey and Mike Yastrzemski. Kelly's final line was 5 IP, 3H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6K, 3 HR.

Despite the few mistakes, Torey Lovullo said they were easily identifiable. "He looks like he's extremely ready," said the manager.

Non-roster invitee Shelby Miller had another good outing, going 1.1 innings and allowing just one hit while striking out four batters. He continues to impress and make his case for a roster spot in the bullpen. He's also keeps showing how he's developed as a pitcher.

"I knew him as a youngster and he was all about being aggressive with his fastball, and challenging hitters with his fastball. Now he's a little bit more of a pitcher, understanding that you need to change speeds, side-to-side, front-to-back. He's got a lot of weapons."

Another non-roster invitee, John Curtiss gave up a solo homer, but the D-backs still led 7-4 heading to the ninth. Minor leaguer Conor Grammes pitched a disastrous ninth inning however, giving up hard contact, including three hits and walk. The Giants scored three runs off him to tie the game.

D-backs at the Plate

The D-backs were not intimidated by future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander. The 42-year-old went five innings, allowing five runs on nine hits and a walk, striking out four. They rapped out 12 hits in all, after scoring 16 runs on 18 hits the night before.

Arizona's 173 runs scored this spring are the third-most in MLB, and their .281 spring batting average is fourth. Last year they led all of MLB in runs scored with 886.

LuJames Groover got the offense started out of the nine hole, leading off the bottom of the third with a base hit. Ildemaro Vargas lashed a double, the second of his three hits. Garrett Hampson hit a sacrifice fly and Jake McCarthy stroked an RBI base hit.

Groover started things up again in a three-run fifth inning with his second double of the game. Vargas doubled him home with the second of his three hits. The utility infielder is now batting .375 in spring as he contends for the 26th spot on the roster. Jake McCarthy had another RBI base hit in the frame.

Randal Grichuk capped off the D-backs' scoring with a long home run to left-center, a two run blast that made the score 7-3 at the time. It was Grichuk's third homer of spring. He's batting .325 with a 1.025 OPS.

Justin Martinez Contract Extension Update

The D-backs made the extension reported yesterday official with a team release Saturday afternoon. The conditional club option for 2032 referenced below is tied to the pitcher's health

"The Arizona Diamondbacks agreed with RHPJustin Martinez to a 5-year contract extension through 2029 (beginning in 2025) with club options for 2030-31 and a conditional club option for 2032."

The D-backs play split-squad games on Sunday to wrap up their Cactus League games. Ryne Nelson will toe the rubber at 1:05 p.m. in Glendale against the White Sox. Brandon Pfaadt gets the ball at 1:10 p.m. at Salt River Fields against the Padres.