Martinez worked a scoreless inning, retiring all three batters he faced in Wednesday's 6-2 win over the Marlins.
With the Diamondbacks holding a 4-1 lead entering the eighth inning, manager Torey Lovullo had the late-game crew -- Martinez and A.J. Puk -- warming in the bullpen. Arizona then scored twice in the top half of the inning, increasing the lead to beyond what would qualify as a save. Lovullo stuck to the plan and had Puk work the bottom of the eighth with left-handers due up, then brought in Martinez to finish up. The latter needed just eight pitches to seal the win, making his seventh straight scoreless appearance to start the season.
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Diamondbacks' Justin Martinez: Works smooth eighth inning
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Martinez struck out two over one inning to earn a hold in Sunday's 5-2 win over the Brewers.
Arizona led 3-2 when the right-handed Martinez opened the eighth inning against three scheduled righty hitters. He retired the side in order, including a lefty pinch hitter. That held the lead for lefty A.J. Puk heading into the ninth, when the Brewers had lefties scheduled. The late-game bullpen deployment is working without manager Torey Lovullo having to name one closer. Martinez has yet to allow a run or a walk while striking out nine over 5.2 innings.
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Diamondbacks' Justin Martinez: Notches second save
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Martinez struck out one in a scoreless ninth inning Tuesday to record his second save of the season in a 4-3 win over the Orioles.
A.J. Puk collected the hold in the eighth before turning things over to Martinez, who plunked Tyler O'Neill with a pitch but was otherwise untouchable. Martinez has a 0.00 ERA and 7:0 K:BB through 4.2 innings while sharing closing duties with Puk.
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Diamondbacks' Justin Martinez: Sharing ninth-inning work with Puk
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Martinez earned the save after throwing a scoreless ninth inning on one hit Friday against the Nationals. He struck out one.
It was the first save of the season for Martinez, who is now up to 3.2 scoreless frames to open the campaign. The hard-throwing right-hander has split time between the eighth and ninth innings over his four appearances, so it appears manager Torey Lovullo prefers to mix and match his closers based on the matchups. The Arizona closing situation has been something close to an even split for ninth-inning work thus far, with A.J. Puk seeing similar usage to Martinez across his four appearances.
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Diamondbacks' Justin Martinez: Impressive hold in win
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Martinez threw a scoreless and hitless eighth inning while striking out three to earn a hold in Tuesday's 7-5 win over the Yankees.
It was a dominant display by the right-handed Martinez, who came on the face the heart of New York's order, which included two righty hitters among three scheduled batters . He fanned Aaron Judge with a splitter and then punched out Jazz Chisholm and Anthony Volpe on 101-mph fastballs. The left-handed A.J. Puk followed, conveniently with three lefties due up, to convert Arizona's first save opportunity of the season. While that sequence may suggest Puk is the closer, manager Torey Lovullo still hasn't named one, and his late-game deployment was all about matchups, particularly having Martinez pitch to Judge. Martinez has allowed two hits and struck out five over 2.2 scoreless innings (three appearances) so far this season.
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Diamondbacks' Justin Martinez: Makes season debut
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Martinez pitched a scoreless ninth inning in Saturday's 4-3 loss to the Cubs.
Martinez made his season debut, entering the top of the ninth inning with Arizona down 4-1. None of the four balls in play he allowed left the infield, and only a fielding error by Martinez extended what could have been a 1-2-3 frame. The right-hander inked a five-year extension late in spring training and is expected to pitch in high-leverage situations, potentially splitting closing duties with A.J. Puk.
Martinez signed a five-year, $18 million contract extension with the Diamondbacks on Friday, Alex D'Agostino of SI.com reports.
In addition to covering him for 2025, Martinez's new deal will buy out his three arbitration years and includes club options for 2030 and 2031, giving him immediate financial security while the Diamondbacks get their young, hard-throwing reliever locked into a team-friendly deal. Martinez turned in a 2.48 ERA and 1.31 WHIP with 91 strikeouts over 72.2 innings during his first full season in the majors last year, though it's still unknown if he, A.J. Puk or Kevin Ginkel will be the preferred ninth-inning option once the regular season begins.
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Diamondbacks' Justin Martinez: Touched for two runs
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Martinez allowed two runs on two hits and struck out one over one inning in Thursday's spring game against the Athletics.
Martinez worked the seventh inning following other closer candidates Kevin Ginkel (fifth inning) and A.J. Puk (sixth). Manager Torey Lovullo indicated Wednesday that he's still mulling the decision as to which of the three will be his primary option in the ninth inning when the games begin to count. This was the second time in eight Cactus League appearances that Martinez has allowed runs, upping his spring ERA to 6.43. Although the small samples mean little, that is much higher than the ERAs of Ginkel (1.50) and Puk (1.29).
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Diamondbacks' Justin Martinez: Manager doesn't plan to name closer
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Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said Wednesday that he probably won't name a closer at the start of the season and instead will play matchups with Martinez and others, Alex Weiner of ArizonaSports.com reports.
A.J. Puk and Kevin Ginkel also figure to be squarely in the mix for saves as Lovullo sorts through his late-inning options. Martinez recorded eight of the team's 11 traditional saves during the final two months of last season, while Puk notched two and Ryan Thompson had the other.
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Diamondbacks' Justin Martinez: Works clean inning
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Martinez struck out two over one inning in Monday's Cactus League game against the Royals.
Other than one ugly outing, Martinez has had a strong spring. One of the final questions remaining for the team in spring training is who will be the Diamondbacks' primary closer. Martinez has allowed three runs (all in one outing) on three hits and three walks while striking out nine over six Cactus League innings. His primary competition for the job is A.J. Puk (1.50 ERA, six innings), with Kevin Ginkel (1.69 ERA, 5.1 innings) also in consideration.
Diamondbacks' Justin Martinez: Squelches fourth-inning jam
Rotowire
Martinez threw a scoreless two-thirds of an inning in Tuesday's spring game against Kansas City.
Martinez came on in the fourth inning to relieve starter Merrill Kelly, who left with one out and runners at the corners. Martinez needed just two pitches to get out of the jam, inducing a double-play groundout to end the inning. It was the fourth scoreless appearance in five Cactus League outings for Martinez, who is competing with A.J. Puk and Kevin Ginkel for the closer role.
Diamondbacks' Justin Martinez: Part of bullpen day
Rotowire
Martinez walked one and struck out one over a scoreless fourth inning in Tuesday's Cactus League game against the Cubs.
It was a bullpen day for the Diamondbacks, which gave manager Torey Lovullo a chance to see his three potential closers pitch early enough in the game to see the other team's regulars. Martinez followed Kevin Ginkel (second inning) and A.J. Puk (third inning). Martinez had the toughest task of the three, facing the second, third and four batters in Chicago's order. All three relievers threw scoreless innings, compounding the difficulty of the decision for the manager. Martinez and Puk appear to be the leading candidates, but all three are expected to work high-leverage innings at the back end of the bullpen.
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