Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte reflects on his walk-off hit vs Phillies in game 3 of NLCS: "That’s the player I am. I’m not surprised”

In a thrilling NLCS Game 3 showdown between the Arizona Diamondbacks, and the Philadelphia Phillies at Chase Field, the former triumphed 2-1. The game was tied till the ninth inning but infielder Ketel Marte drove in Pavin Smith, resulting in a walk-off victory. With this, the Dbacks are back in business and the best-of-seven series currently stands at 2-1.

In a post-game interaction, Ketel Marte wasn't surprised by his clutch hit and said:

"That’s the player I am. I’m not surprised.”

The game was heavily dictated by pitchers as both the starting aces had a scoreless outing and went the distance for their respective teams.

For the Dbacks, rookie Brandon Pfaadt pitched 5.2 innings, going scoreless while giving up two hits and striking out nine hitters. On the other side, Phillies starting pitcher Ranger Suarez also pitched a 5.2 scoreless frame with seven strikeouts.

Both teams scored in the seventh, where Phillies' Bryce Harper scored off a wild pitch, while Dbacks' Lourdes Gurriel Jr. recorded an RBI double, driving in Alek Thomas.

Phillies bullpen pitchers Jose Alvarado and Craig Kimbrel couldn't hold off the Dbacks hitters in the ninth as they put up traffic on bases, which eventually resulted in a walk-off run.

Ketel Marte's MLB career

The Dominican hitter was signed by the Seattle Mariners as an international free agent in Aug. 2010. On July 31, 2015, the Mariners promoted him to the majors, resulting in his MLB debut.

On November 23, 2016, the Mariners traded Marte and Taijuan Walker to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Jean Segura, Mitch Haniger, and Zac Curtis.

Marte started as a second baseman at the 2019 All-Star game on the back of impressive performances in the leadup to the All-Star game. That year, he batted .329 with 32 HRs and 92 RBIs.

He signed a five-year, $76 million extension with the Diamondbacks in March 2022. Ketel Marte has played for the Diamondbacks and Mariners for 9 seasons, accumulating 990 hits, 107 home runs, 420 RBIs, and 508 runs scored with a batting average of .279.