Marte ties Grissom for longest hit streak to open postseason career
Anthony DiComo
@AnthonyDiComoPHILADELPHIA -- Ketel Marte during the regular season? Pretty good. Marte during the postseason? Pencil him in for a hit every day.
Marte extended his postseason hitting streak to 15 games with an RBI triple off Phillies starter Aaron Nola in the fifth inning of National League Championship Series Game 6 on Monday, matching Marquis Grissom for the longest streak to open a career in postseason history. Arizona beat Philadelphia, 5-1, to force a winner-take-all Game 7.
Marte is two games shy of the overall postseason hitting streak record, which Hank Bauer (1956-58), Derek Jeter (1998-99) and Manny Ramirez (2003-04) share with 17 in a row. His 18 total hits this postseason are also one shy of the franchise record Steve Finley set in recording 19 during the 2001 playoffs.
¡°I credit it to my routine,¡± Marte said through an interpreter. ¡°I¡¯ve got a good physical routine and mental preparation. I just stick to my routine, and it helps.¡±
A hitting streak was probably not on Marte¡¯s mind when he began it six years ago with the D-backs in the 2017 NL Wild Card Game against the Rockies. But Marte hit safely in all four of his games that postseason, then in his first 11 this October. After tripling home Corbin Carroll in the fifth on Monday to knock Nola out of the game, Marte added an RBI single two innings later against reliever Orion Kerkering.
¡°Fifteen-for-15, pretty impressive,¡± D-backs closer Paul Sewald said. ¡°It¡¯s so hard to hit in the postseason, because you just only see aces and top bullpen guys. He has absolutely carried us in this series, more than we could have ever imagined.¡±
There have been some big ones along the way, including Marte¡¯s solo homer in NL Division Series Game 3 against the Dodgers and his walk-off single in NLCS Game 3 against the Phillies.
¡°The goal is to play the game the right way,¡± Marte said. ¡°Regardless of whether it¡¯s a sixth or a seventh game, I just have to keep it simple and execute.¡±
Overall this postseason, Marte is batting .375 with a 1.025 OPS. He was a .276 hitter during the regular season and never hit in more than 11 consecutive games. The second baseman¡¯s career-best hitting streak was a run of 16 games in a row in 2022.