Finally, after 10 attempts, the Padres got J.D. Martinez out.
The team finally got him out in the ninth inning of the series finale when Martinez swung at a 2-2 split ball from Jeremiah Estrada, a sensational moment Martinez last experienced in the sixth inning of the series opener on Friday.
Since then, he has walked five times, hit two home runs, two doubles and two singles.
For all you’re counting, that’s 10 consecutive times he’s reached base, and of those 10 times, the 36-year-old Martinez has found himself in the middle of the Mets’ improbable revival.
When the Padres got him out, Martinez was tying Robinson Cano for the second-longest consecutive on-base streak in Mets history and had extended his on-base streak to 20 games, the longest for a Mets streak since Mark Caña in 2022.
“He’s been really good,” Pete Alonso said. “What he’s been able to do throughout the series and the homestand has been really special. He’s not just hitting balls, he’s taking balls that he’s not swinging at, balls that come from difficult pitchers. He’s hitting balls all over the field.”
“He’s played great this homestand.”
When Estrada ended the streak late in Sunday’s game, Martinez had already recorded a run and an RBI with two bases loaded in an eventual 11-6 victory over San Diego.
He’s already done all the damage he needs, albeit relatively lightly, on an afternoon when all of the Mets’ superstars were batting, raising his batting average over his past seven games to .400.
“He got on base 10 times in a row and the way he got on base, he wasn’t giving away any easy hits,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He’s hitting the ball and dodging the hard balls. He’s getting on base with walks and dodging the hard balls. That’s what good hitters do. It’s nice, but that’s what makes him special. When you see him doing well like this, he can carry a team.”
He helped bring the Mets back to the brink of playoff contention, and a few weeks ago, as the countdown to the trade deadline was on, it seemed inevitable that Martinez would be one of the players moved, but that didn’t seem likely.
It’s unclear at this time whether Martinez will remain with the Mets for more than a few months.
But it will certainly be difficult for them to remain in playoff contention without him.
