When the New York Mets needed something to give them life amid their struggles, J.D. Martinez came through in their 3-2 win over the Miami Marlins on Thursday, and added a significant milestone to his career resume.
Martinez clocked a 409-foot two-run home run to right center field in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Mets the win. This marked the first time that the Florida native hit a walk-off home run in his career.
Mets: J.D. Martinez reflects on first career walk-off home run after beating the Marlins
After the game, the hero of the night had this to say about the achievement, per Bill Ladson of MLB.com:
“It was definitely cool. I’ve hit a lot of late-inning home runs and [had] big hits, but never a walk-off home run,” Martinez said.
The reigning MLB All-Star has won three Silver Slugger awards and has achieved many other impressive feats at the plate in his career, one of which includes the four home runs he hit against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sept. 4, 2017 when he played for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Albeit, a walk-off was missing from his resume.
Martinez also inched closer to another career milestone with the homer
Martinez also tied former MLB great Ron Gant and Philadelphia Phillies superstar Bryce Harper for No. 127 all-time and the latter for No. 8 among active players with 321 career home runs. It was a big night for the 14-year veteran, especially with his name emerging in trade rumors in recent weeks.
The righty designated hitter has had himself a solid showing for the Mets in 2024 thus far with six home runs, 21 RBI’s and a .271 batting average across 41 games played, but has been a step behind his commonplace yearly output. The momentous walk-off homer, which was met with celebrations from his teammates and Mets fans at Citi Field, may be the linchpin that propels his production forward for the rest of the season.