The Arizona Diamondbacks notched their 41st win of the season on Tuesday night, but their victory was overshadowed by an incident between a fan and D-Backs second basemen Ketel Marte.
During his at-bat in the seventh inning against the Chicago White Sox, a fan directed a derogatory message towards the batsman.
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After popping the ball out to end the inning, it was noticeable that Marte had been deeply affected by the fan’s words, and could be seen tearing up whilst he was walking back to the dugout.
The 31-year-old’s emotions overspilled in the bottom of the seventh, where he was visibly distressed and in floods of tears.
Shortly after, D-Backs manager Torey Lovullo entered the field as he made a pitching change, and as he did so, he, and shortstop Geraldo Perdomo were seen consoling the stricken Marte.
It was later revealed that the fan had verbally abused Marte about his mother, who devastatingly passed away in 2017 having been involved in a fatal car accident.
Consequently, the fan was ejected from the ball park at the request of Lovullo, and bench coach, Jeff Banister.
Arizona would defeat the White Sox 4-1 to clinch the series with one game left to spare.
Despite what happens late in the game, Marte hit a solo home run in the first inning, though all the attention post-game was centered around that incident and not his, or the team’s, performance.
After the game, Lovullo addressed the media, and stated that he had heard the comment that the “nasty” fan had made toward his player, and immediately noticed that Marte was struggling to contain his emotions as a result.
“It was a terrible moment,” an emotional Lovullo said after the game. “Fans are nasty, and fans go too far. I love my players, and I’m going to protect them.
“I’ve known Ketel for nine years, and he’s had some unbelievably great moments and some hardships, as well. Some really, really tough moments in his life, and I know those. At the end of the day, we’re human beings and we have emotions. I saw him hurting, and I wanted to protect him.”
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“We can take a lot. We sign up and we are in uniform to take a lot,” Lovullo further said. “We’re prepared for that. But when you cross a line — and it’s a very firm, bold line — we become human beings.
“I hate it. I hated what happened today, but I’m going to protect these guys and back them up like I’m their father.”
On what words were spoken to Marte as he comforted him on the field, Lovullo added: “(Marte) put his head down and I could tell it had an immediate impact on him, for sure…I could see he was sobbing. It hurt.
“(I told him), ‘I love you and I’m with you and we’re all together and you’re not alone. No matter what happens, no matter what was said or what you heard, that guy is an idiot. It shouldn’t have an impact on you.'”
Members of the D-Backs contingent were also incensed by the fan’s taunts towards their teammate, with Perdomo “mad” about what unfolded.
“Everybody knows Ketel has fun, plays the game hard, but I feel bad for him. I feel mad about it,” an emotional Perdomo said.
“I don’t know who it was, but they’ve definitely got to do something. We cannot continue to do that s*** here in MLB. This is baseball, this is for the fans. They came here, they support us, but when they cross the line, we are not with that s***.”
Marte, a two-time All-Star, made his MLB debut with the Seattle Mariners in 2015, but was traded to Arizona a year later, and he has been with the team ever since.
In the 2025 season, Marte has made 53 appearances, and has recorded 15 home runs, the third-most on the team, 62 hits, with a batting average of .320.
He has also added 32 RBIs.
The D-Backs have a 41-38 winning record this season, though they currently rank fourth in a stacked NL West, 7.5 games back of division leaders, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Next up is the series finale against the White Sox, where the Diamondbacks will be looking to sweep the series 3-0.
