Naylor Plays Walk-Off Hero as D-backs Lose Closer to Injury

Naylor gave a wry answer when asked if he had ever hit a walk-off grand slam prior in his career.

"When I was playing MLB The Show, yeah," he said dryly. "I don't think in real life, I can't remember a time I did, no."

Kelly worked around some base traffic, but pitched an overall excellent game. One start removed from a dominant seven-inning affair against the Braves, the veteran righty carved up Seattle for six more scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 3.18.

Kelly gave up four hits and two walks, but punched out seven Mariners. He worked out of two-on, no-out jams in the second and sixth innings. Kelly attacked the zone early, throwing first-pitch strikes to 18 of his 22 batters faced. He had either a 1-2 or 0-2 count against 12 of those hitters, as he kept the Mariners guessing all night.

The D-backs' offense needed just one pitch to get on the board, as Corbin Carroll launched the first pitch he saw deep to left. The ball bounced off the top of the wall to get out, as the 348-foot solo shot was his shortest homer of the season by 28 feet.

It took until the fifth inning for Arizona to build anything else offensively. An Alek Thomas single was eventually plated by a Ketel Marte RBI single.

Arizona was then able to work some insurance runs off the Seattle bullpen. Josh Naylor doubled home a Geraldo Perdomo walk to begin the seventh, and a well-placed single by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. raised the score to 4-0.

But just when it appeared Arizona would see a stress-free ninth inning, closer Justin Martinez unleashed a 97 MPH sinker to issue a walk to Dylan Moore.

After his next pitch, Martinez immediately motioned for a trainer with two outs in the inning and quickly exited the game.

"My elbow was getting tight in the last few pitches," Martinez said postgame. "I decided to call the trainer, figure out what was going on."

Martinez, who has already survived one bout of Tommy John Surgery, said he felt a pop in his previous experience. Monday night's injury did not include such a pop, but rather gradual tightness as he threw his last few pitches.

"I feel bad. I want to be healthy to help the team to win. ... But, like I said, it is what it is. We just have to figure it out and then come back stronger," Martinez said.

"That was tough," said Naylor. "But again, you've got to keep going. It was sad to see. We did our best to rally around him and get a win, and thank god we did."

Right-hander Jeff Brigham entered, and what followed was merely insult to injury. Brigham served up two RBI base hits, then presented former Diamondback Domninic Canzone with the opportunity to exact revenge on his former club.

Canzone sent a two-run shot 450 feet to right field, knotting the contest at four runs apiece. Juan Morillo finished the inning without further damage, and after a 1-2-3 home half, came through with a scoreless 10th.

The D-backs squandered their first walk-off opportunity, but a solid 11th inning from Jalen Beeks set up a big 11th. After an intentional walk of Marte, former Arizona reliever Carlos Vargas issued a one-out walk to Perdomo to load the bases.

After a tough at-bat, Naylor sent the final blow deep to right field. The Diamondbacks pick up a gritty, must-needed win, but although the outcome ended in the win column, the D-backs will anxiously await Martinez's status.

Diamondbacks On SI will continue to report on the developing story.