Diamondbacks 9, Rangers 1: Marte's Doubles, Then Back-to-Back

Four scoreless, then Arizona scored nine

September 11, 2026 - Phoenix - Ketel Marte doubled twice and drove in three, and the Chase Field crowd treated both of them like a homecoming. The Associated Press recap said he had been booed on Aug. 31 in his return from the injured list. Friday he got cheers before the game and a roar after the doubles. The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Texas Rangers 9-1.

The roof was closed. It was 76 degrees inside. Attendance was 32,849. First pitch was 6:43 p.m. The game lasted 2 hours, 52 minutes. Arizona scored four in the fifth and five in the sixth. Texas scored once, on a Joc Pederson double, and then watched the middle of the order take the night.

The AP recap said Arizona had been averaging fewer than three runs per game in September and is locked in a tight fight with San Diego for the last NL wild card. Friday was the breakout. The D-backs are 79-69. The Rangers are 72-76, three games behind Cleveland for the last AL wild card, per the AP recap.

Pederson's double, then the fifth answered

Merrill Kelly and MacKenzie Gore threw zeros through four. Gore (8-11) was charged with four runs on five hits in four innings, three walks, two strikeouts, 76 pitches. The four runs scored in the fifth after he had already recorded 12 outs. Kelly worked 4 1/3 and allowed the only Texas run.

Jake Burger walked in the fifth. Pederson doubled to right, his 12th, Burger scoring, Danny Jansen to third. 1-0. That was the lead. It lasted half an inning.

Jordan Lawlar doubled. Ryan Waldschmidt reached. Ildemaro Vargas hit a ground-rule double to left-center, Lawlar scoring. 1-1. Marte then doubled to left, his 25th, Waldschmidt and Vargas scoring. 1-3. Gabriel Moreno singled Marte home. 1-4. Four runs, none of them a homer. Gore was charged with all four. Kevin Ginkel (6-4) got the last two outs of the fifth and the win.

Carroll's 20th, Arenado next, an immaculate inning

Adam Macko and Chase Silseth could not get through the sixth. Waldschmidt scored on Marte's 26th double. Moreno singled Marte home again. 1-6. Corbin Carroll then homered to left-center, his 20th, Moreno aboard. The AP recap said it was the fourth straight season Carroll has reached 20 homers. 1-8. Nolan Arenado followed with his 24th, a fly to left. Back-to-back. 1-9. Macko lasted a third of an inning, two hits, two runs, two homers. Silseth lasted two-thirds, two hits, three runs.

Justin Martinez threw the sixth. The AP recap said he retired Wyatt Langford, Evan Carter, and Burger on nine pitches, an immaculate inning. Three strikeouts. No traffic. The 9-1 already felt finished. Martinez made it look official.

Taylor Clarke threw a scoreless seventh. Dennis Santana finished the last two. Jakob Junis recorded the last three outs of the fifth after Gore and did not allow an earned run of his own. Jordan Montgomery threw two clean innings after the sixth-inning homers. The Rangers finished with five hits and nine left on. Corey Seager went 0-for-4. Brandon Nimmo walked twice and did not score. Pederson's two hits were the only extra-base noise Texas made.

Cheers, then a Saturday with Pfaadt

Marte finished 2-for-5 with two doubles, two runs, and three RBI. Arenado went 2-for-3 with a homer, a double, a walk, and one RBI. Moreno had two hits and two RBI. Vargas doubled and scored. Carroll's two-run shot was the swing that turned a 6-1 into a game Texas could not climb. Lawlar doubled and scored. Geraldo Perdomo walked and did not add a hit. Arizona had 11 hits and left eight on. They did not need the eighth and ninth.

The AP recap said Marte missed 13 games after an unexpected no-show before a game in Boston, then apologized for how he handled it. Friday's doubles do not close that story. They do explain why the crowd sounded different. A three-time All-Star who had been booed two weeks earlier put two extra-base hits into a 9-1 that Arizona needed.

Brandon Pfaadt (7-2, 3.53) faces Kumar Rocker (5-11, 4.61) on Saturday, per the AP recap. The D-backs are still chasing a wild card. They spent four innings looking like a September club that could not score. Then they scored nine in two innings and sent Texas home with one run and a 72-76 record that is running out of calendar.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put Marte at 9 hitting fantasy points. Arenado had 9. Carroll had 6. Moreno had 5. Martinez checked in at 11 pitching FP for the immaculate inning and the hold. Arizona finished with 20 team FP, third on the Friday slate. Texas finished at minus-8.

Fantasy points measure the night under platform scoring rules. Share prices also move with traders through dynamic pricing. They are related. They are not the same number.

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*Sources: ESPN recap and box score, MLB.com Gameday wrap, MLB.com schedule, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*