Even at this early juncture of the season, every game matters for every contending team in the NL West as the Los Angeles Dodgers threaten to run away with the division title yet again. The Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants knew the importance of their contest on Wednesday night, with the former looking to win their third straight ballgame and the latter looking to snap their four-game losing skid.
In the ninth inning, it looked as though the Giants were on their way to wrapping up a 5-3 victory on the road. However, Geraldo Perdomo and Ketel Marte had other ideas. The Diamondbacks' up-the-middle duo came up huge, with Perdomo getting on base via a single, setting up Marte's heroics in the ninth as the National League's All-Star starter at second base came through with a game-tying homer.
KETEL MARTE TIES THE GAME WITH A 2-RUN HR IN THE 9TH 🔥
pic.twitter.com/4n4xnTIu7f— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 3, 2025
Marte has been one of the most productive middle infielders in MLB ever since the Diamondbacks acquired him prior to the start of the 2017 season, and he seems to only be getting better with age. He's in the middle of yet another stellar season, recording 18 home runs and 39 runs batted in on an incredible slash line of .300/.404/.595 (an OPS of .999!) — making him a well-deserving MLB All-Star starter.
This is an encore for the Diamondbacks second baseman, as he's coming off a career year in 2024 where he notched 36 home runs, 95 runs batted in, and 93 runs scored with an OPS of .932 all while playing solid defense at the keystone.
Alas, the Diamondbacks could not make it three wins in a row on Wednesday. Giants closer Camilo Doval rebounded to record three straight outs after Marte's homer, and Arizona ended up relinquishing the lead in the top of the 10th on a sacrifice fly from Patrick Bailey. In the bottom of the 10th, the DBacks went three-up, three-down, falling to 43-43 on the year as a result of their 6-5 loss in extras to the Giants.
Diamondbacks look to weather the injury storm

A slew of injuries to a few key guys for the Diamondbacks has made 2025 rough sailing for them thus far. They have Corbin Carroll on the 10-day injured list, Corbin Burnes, their blockbuster free-agent signing this past offseason, will miss the rest of the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and their starting catcher, Gabriel Moreno, suffered a hairline fracture in his right index finger.
At the very least, Marte is doing his best to keep the Diamondbacks afloat. But he will need help if Arizona were to avoid falling behind the pace even further.