PHOENIX -- Ketel Marte’s day started with a press conference at Chase Field, during which he told fans that he needed their help in order to reach his goal of playing in next month’s All-Star Game.
Then Marte went out and once again displayed his talents, picking up a couple of hits in the D-backs’ 3-2 loss to the Dodgers.
Marte extended his streak of consecutive multihit games to eight with singles in the third and fifth innings, setting a club record by surpassing Luis Gonzalez, who had seven consecutive multihit games in 2001.
“He’s a special player doing special things at special times,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “I keep saying it like a broken record, but he deserves to be an All-Star. I hope the voters get out there and do what they’re supposed to do and support him in the right way. He is something special for the Arizona Diamondbacks fans and this entire organization. I know we’re all enjoying watching him and me in particular. He’s playing the game at an incredible pace.”
Marte came into the game leading the other two finalists -- Atlanta’s Ozzie Albies and Milwaukee’s Mike Moustakas -- in on-base percentage, slugging and fWAR with a 3.7 mark.
“I’m really happy and I’m focused on giving 100 percent out there every single day and I’m blessed by what God has given me and how this has turned out,” Marte said.
Marte sustained a cramp in his left groin muscle Friday night against the Giants and sat out Saturday and Sunday’s game before returning to the lineup Monday with a pair of hits.
In that game, Marte clearly was not running at 100 percent, but he looked more like his old self Tuesday and the two-day layoff did not slow him down at the plate.
“The injury was in the leg not in the bat,” Marte said drawing laughs from reporters. “That’s why I’ve been able to pick it [back] up.”
Making the All-Star team has been a dream of Marte’s since he was a kid, but while he’s excited about the voting which starts at 9 a.m. MST on Wednesday, Marte said it would not keep him up at night.
“I’m going to sleep just fine just like every night,” he said. “The vote isn’t under my control, it’s under the fans' control and I’m going to focus on tomorrow’s game and being able to perform at my highest level.”
Of course, he also will do some lobbying for himself.
“I’m going to put up like 10 [Instagram] pictures out there for everyone to vote for me,” Marte said. “Follow me on social media and I’m going to tell my friends and all my followers to really put up the votes for me as well.”
Despite Marte’s hits and a pair of RBIs by David Peralta, the D-backs were unable to prevail as the Dodgers rallied for a pair of runs in the sixth inning on a solo homer by Justin Turner and an RBI double by Chris Taylor off Robbie Ray (5-5).
“You get out in front of them, you feel good about the matchups, Robbie [Ray] is throwing the ball extremely well and then he just got nicked up in the one inning where he gave up a couple of runs, and that ended up being the difference in the game,” Lovullo said.
Roster move
The D-backs optioned infielder Domingo Leyba to Triple-A Reno following the game and will activate infielder Jake Lamb from the 10-day injured list for Wednesday’s game. Lamb has been out with a strained left quadriceps muscle since April 4.