Who was D-backs' June MVP? Here's your monthly recap

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As July gets underway, let's take a look back at the month of June and hand out the monthly awards for the Diamondbacks:

Most Valuable Player: Ketel Marte

Catcher Gabriel Moreno was a serious consideration for this one after slashing .308/.427/.474, an outstanding month to be sure, but in the end, it was hard to not give it to Marte.

Marte appeared in 26 out of 27 games in the month of June and won a couple of games for the D-backs with late-inning hits, along with eight homers, including finishing up the month by homering in four straight games.

We'll get to some of his heroics later when we talk about the best win of the month.

Starting pitcher: Eduardo Rodriguez

Rodriguez continues to put together an outstanding season, compiling a 2.02 ERA over the month with a 1.12 WHIP in six starts.

Rodriguez was rewarded for his performance this past weekend when he was named to his first All-Star Game in his 11th big league season.

"I didn't realize it was his first one, honestly," fellow starter Merrill Kelly said. "You know, he's been doing it for a while, he's obviously won a World Series. I figured in my mind, I just thought he had already gotten one, but it's pretty cool to see after how the last couple years have gone for him, for him to do what he's doing this year and then get his first All-Star nod."

Relief pitcher: Taylor Clarke

Clarke continues to put together an outstanding season in the bullpen after his signing this past offseason got little to no attention.

Clarke appeared in 11 games in June with a 1.05 WHIP and a 2.92 ERA.

Best win: June 4 vs. Dodgers

The Diamondbacks were on the verge of losing a four-game series to the Dodgers, trailing 2-0 through seven innings.

After tying the game in the eighth, the Diamondbacks ended it in walk-off fashion in the ninth when, with one out, Marte hit a home run off Tanner Scott.

"Ketel Marte is an amazing baseball player, and the best players do the best things at the most critical times, and he basically stepped up there and won us a baseball game, and it was a great moment for him, a great moment for this team," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said.

I thought it was amazing that Marte had never had a walk-off homer before hitting one on May 19, and he now has two of them.

Worst loss: June 20 vs. Twins

The 16-8 final score of this game doesn't do justice for just how badly the Diamondbacks played.

After winning the opening game of the series with the Twins, the Diamondbacks laid an egg in this one as the Twins jumped out to a 16-0 lead, thanks in part to a 10-run fifth inning. Yilber Díaz gave up seven runs in two-thirds of an inning and was designated for assignment after the game.

"That was a rough day," Lovullo said after the game. "There isn't much positive to say other than we need to be better. We need to pitch better, we need to prep better, we need to coach better, I need to manage better. We just got to do it all the way around. You cannot give up 16 runs, you cannot put yourself in that position."