NEW YORK (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks placed reliever Justin Martinez on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation Thursday, a day after after his velocity dipped while he failed to record an out against the New York Mets.
To replace Martinez, the Diamondbacks recalled left-hander José Castillo from Triple-A Reno. Left-handed reliever A.J. Puk (left elbow inflammation) was moved to the 60-day injured list.
Martinez entered with a three-run lead in the ninth inning Wednesday night, but allowed Tyrone Taylor’s homer before walking Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto. Ryan Thompson got the final three outs in the 4-3 win.
Martinez’s fastball was clocked between 95 and 96 mph — down a couple of mph from his previous appearances against the Atlanta Braves last Friday and Saturday and down 5 mph from his peak velocity last season.
Martinez, who flew back to Arizona on Thursday morning to undergo an MRI, battled right shoulder fatigue during the back half of April.
“It was clear last night, we were all watching the same thing — his stuff was down,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said Thursday before the series finale against the Mets. “We’re going to find out what’s going on with his shoulder. He feels strongly there’s nothing wrong, but we felt like, at the very least, we give him a little bit of a blow, get him healthy, get him back to full speed. That’s the most important thing.”
Lovullo said he didn’t know who would step in as the closer for the Diamondbacks. Martinez and Puk have combined for seven of Arizona’s nine saves this season.
“We miss A.J. and we’re going to miss ‘J-Mart’ — but they’re going to heal and they’re going to come back and help us win games,” Lovullo said. “In the meantime, everybody’s going to hold down the fort, keep their seats warm — hold down the fort and help us win baseball games.”
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Justin Martinez, right, celebrates a win against the Atlanta Braves as he shakes hands with Diamondbacks catcher Jose Herrera after the final out in the ninth inning of a baseball game Sunday, April 27, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — This rematch between the Australian Open finalists was lopsided and Aryna Sabalenka flipped the outcome with a straight-sets win over Madison Keys.
Top-ranked Sabalenka broke Keys' in five straight service games on the way to a 6-3, 6-3 win in 1 1/2 hours Friday to reach the semifinals of the Brisbane International, an important tuneup event for the Australian Open which begins Jan. 18.
“I didn’t really have the throwback to the Australian Open last year, to be honest," Sabalenka said. "I know that I lost in Australia against her and it's a big motivation, of course, to go out and get the win.
"But I always look into the (next) match as like a new match against a new player. That's my approach."
The defending Brisbane champion will next take on 11th-seeded Karolina Muchova, who had a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 win over Elena Rybakina to end a 13-match streak for the No. 3 seed. Fourth-seeded Jessica Pegula had a 6-3, 7-6 (3) quarterfinal win over No. 10 Liudmila Samsonova and will face either Mirra Andreeva or Marta Kostyuk in the semis.
Muchova has the better of the career head-to-head meetings against WTA Finals champion Rybakina. She also has a 3-1 record against No. 1 Sabalenka.
“Doesn’t matter if I’m the one who is leading head-to-head or I’m the one who is losing — I don’t care,” Sabalenka said, adding that her focus is to control the kinds of emotions that derailed her sometimes when she was younger.
“In the past, I could lose a match because I’d be so frustrated. Now I’m just trying to move on like, ‘OK, whatever,'” she said. “I feel like it’s been working well for me.”
Keys will head to Adelaide aiming to retain the title there and then hope to repeat the sequence from 2025, when she went on to win her first Grand Slam title two weeks later in Melbourne.
“Hopefully I can gain and then just keep a lot of momentum going,” she said. “Hopefully there is many more firsts to come.”
On a warm Friday afternoon on Pat Rafter Arena, Sabalenka got the first service break in the seventh game and then took six of the next seven games. Keys broke serve to open the second set in the only interruption in that sequence.
The 30-year-old American faced immense pressure on her second serve, finishing the match with eight double-faults and winning just 33% of points on her second serve.
Keys saved two match points in the eighth game of the second set but it barely slowed down Sabalenka, who served out at love.
Sabalenka has two straight-set wins over Keys — the other was 6-0, 6-1 at Indian Wells — since that loss at Melbourne Park almost 12 months ago. She also reached the French Open final, won the U.S. Open and finished the competitive season with a runner-up finish at the WTA Finals.
Earlier at the Brisbane tournament, she described the season schedule as “insane” and said she’ll risk fines in order to skip tournaments to avoid injuries or burnout. Still, she wants as much competition as possible before the season's first major.
“I’m just trying to get some matches, get some wins,” she said, "and get the rhythm going again.”
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Aryna Sabalenka serves against Nick Kyrgios during their Battle of the Sexes tennis match, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday Dec. 28, 2025. (Amr Alfiky/Pool Photo via AP)
