PHOENIX (AP) — Ketel Marte was back in the starting lineup for the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday and greeted with a chours of boos by the home crowd, two weeks after the three-time All-Star's unexpected no-show before a game in Boston left the team scrambling.
The exact reasons for his head-scratching absence are still a little vague.
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Returning Arizona Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte, left, talks with Diamondbacks' Eduardo Rodriguez, second from left, along with Philadelphia Phillies' Jesús Luzardo and Cristopher Sánchez, right, prior to a baseball game, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Returning Arizona Diamondbacks designated hitter Ketel Marte, right, fields grounders with Diamondbacks' Field Coordinator/Infield Coach Shaun Larkin prior to a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Returning Arizona Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte, left, talks with Diamondbacks' Eduardo Rodriguez, second from left, along with Philadelphia Phillies' Jesús Luzardo and Cristopher Sánchez, right, prior to a baseball game, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Returning Arizona Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte takes early infield practice prior to a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Returning Arizona Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte throws during infield practice prior to a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Marte addressed the media before Monday night's game against the Philadelphia Phillies and apologized to manager Torey Lovullo for the way he handled the situation, which has turned into a sizable distraction as the Diamondbacks attempt to return to the postseason for the first time since 2023.
“In that instance, I failed (Lovullo) by not showing up,” Marte said through an interpreter. “That morning I woke up, my body was in pain and I just couldn't react. No one made the decision for me. I'm the one who made the decision to not show up.”
Marte was initially put on the restricted list after failing to show up for the game in Boston, but then moved to the 10-day injured list with mild inflammation in his left knee. The D-backs went 7-6 during his absence.
The 32-year-old Marte was the designated hitter and batted cleanup Monday night. When he came to the plate in the bottom of the second inning, he was greeted by mostly jeers from the Chase Field crowd, though some of those were from Phillies fans eager to pile on.
The boos continued after Marte grounded out to first base.
Marte should restore some punch to an inconsistent lineup. Arizona held a half-game lead over the San Diego Padres for the final National League wild card as it opened an important three-game series against the Phillies.
Marte was hitting .249 with 21 homers and 67 RBIs this season. He said he would address his teammates before Monday's game.
“I’m going to stand up in front of them and ask for forgiveness,” Marte said. “We’re human — we all commit mistakes.”
Marte's teammates have been mostly supportive of the second baseman, though there has been some frustration about the timing of his absence, which has come in the middle of a postseason push.
There have also been concerns about how he's handled the situation. While the Diamondbacks were in the middle of a 9-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Aug. 21, there were pictures circulating on social media showing him at a casino.
Marte didn't apologize for the casino trip and also said he had no message for Diamondbacks fans.
“I've been injured before,” Marte said. “Those are things I do in my personal time.”
This wasn’t the first time Marte had a strange disappearance.
Last season, he went on the restricted list when his home in Arizona was broken into during the All-Star break. He missed three games after flying back to his home in the Dominican Republic and later apologized for his absence.
Lovullo has repeatedly defended Marte over their 10-year relationship, despite admitting he felt “betrayed” by the second baseman's actions in Boston.
“It's something that's a work in progress,” Lovullo said. "I think he told you he's human, he's not perfect. We all have bad moments and bad days — things we regret. For him to come up here and tell you that, I know it wasn't easy.
“This is as much progress as I've seen him make.”
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Returning Arizona Diamondbacks designated hitter Ketel Marte, right, fields grounders with Diamondbacks' Field Coordinator/Infield Coach Shaun Larkin prior to a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Returning Arizona Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte, left, talks with Diamondbacks' Eduardo Rodriguez, second from left, along with Philadelphia Phillies' Jesús Luzardo and Cristopher Sánchez, right, prior to a baseball game, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Returning Arizona Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte takes early infield practice prior to a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Returning Arizona Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte throws during infield practice prior to a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. (AP) — The bodies of a Texas chiropractor and at least one other person have been found after a major flash flood swept through the Grand Canyon, and officials said Monday that one person remains unaccounted for after about 80 others were rescued over the weekend.
Saturday’s flash flood severely damaged the only water pipeline into the canyon. Officials barred tourists from staying at lodges and hotels inside Grand Canyon National Park and issued emergency water restrictions for year-round residents. Waves of torrential rain had hit the Bright Angel Creek area of the tourist destination that hosts 4.4 million visitors a year.
Grand Canyon Deputy Superintendent Brian Drapeaux said officials anticipate “miles of the pipeline being destroyed,” but a full accounting of the devastation won't be completed until Tuesday at the earliest.
Incident Cmdr. Dave Black said searchers used night vision and other equipment to find people who needed rescuing during the deluge. By sunset on Saturday, 45 people were rescued, and 37 more were evacuated on Sunday.
Rangers referred to the the park’s permit system and checked vehicle license plates to track the number of missing people.
“As of right now, they have no reason to believe, from the tips we’ve been through so far, that there’s anybody besides the one” missing person, Black said during a news conference Monday evening.
The flood happened deep in the canyon near where the Colorado River flows, around popular lodges and camping areas where people hiking from one rim of the Grand Canyon to the other stop for the night.
Scores of visitors had to be evacuated from the area by helicopter. They talked of a massive deluge and rangers warning of rockslides, and saw huge pools of logs and debris rolling down the river as they stood nearby awaiting rescue.
Hiker Daniel Evans said it rained several times before the worst 30-minute downpour Saturday afternoon. He had been planning to rest through the hot day and spend the night near the hard-hit Bright Angel campground area.
Earlier, rangers told him it looked to be safe. Then, as the rain poured, they told him it was time to go. He thought of Nepal and the massive floods and landslides that poured down mountain valleys last week.
“The entire time it was raining — the entire time I’m going through all this and packing — I’m just keeping my eyes upstream, just praying that a wall of water isn’t coming toward us,” Evans said.
The family of John Giusti, 53, said the Texas chiropractor set out Thursday on a trip he dreamed of with two buddies — Texas martial arts studio owner Brent Rosenkranz, 42, and Wyoming pilot Timothy Smith, 53. They planned to spend two nights at the bottom of the canyon fishing and hiking.
They spoke to their families Thursday and found their campsite Friday. They have not been heard from since, the three families said in a joint statement released Monday.
All three men had ties to Granbury, Texas. Their families said they planned “several days of hiking, camping, fishing and exploring together.”
Park officials said they recovered the body of a 46-year-old man Sunday evening near Crystal Rapids along the Colorado River and were trying to recover a second body. Their email provided no other details.
Late Monday morning, more rain fell as the state Department of Emergency and Military Affairs was coordinating with the park service and county emergency management officials in search and recovery efforts.
Visiting the Grand Canyon can be particularly dangerous in the summer because of the risk of flash flooding that accompanies the monsoon, or rainy season. Clear days can quickly give way to thunderstorms and downpours. Forecasters warned more flooding could happen Monday or just about any time storms pop up.
Rain also fell on part of the Dragon Bravo fire scar, a burn area left by a lightning-caused wildfire in July 2025. It burned for days before exploding into a fast-moving conflagration that forced evacuations and consumed the historic Grand Canyon Lodge, some cabins and other structures.
Without vegetation, a barren burn scar allows runoff to flow more quickly.
The steep, rocky nature of the canyon itself funnels water rapidly. What might be a normal summer downpour somewhere else can become a charging wall of water in the canyon.
This year's heavy monsoon rains are especially intense because there is a higher amount of water vapor in the atmosphere, mostly because of a strong El Nino, said A. Park Williams, a hydroclimatologist at the University of California, Los Angeles.
The natural warming of parts of the Pacific Ocean can warp weather globally. That extra water vapor in the southwest U.S. gets wrung out in the storm in the form of rainfall, he said.
The link to human-caused climate change and the heavy Arizona rain is pretty strong, said climate scientist Daniel Swain of the California Institute for Water Resources.
A few months ago, Swain and colleagues published a study in the journal Weather and Climate Extremes finding that during the summer, short-term intense downpours in the West — akin to the one that hit the Grand Canyon — have become 10% stronger since 2000.
The flood was a major blow to an enduring effort to modernize the water pipeline that serves visitors and the roughly 1,600 residents of Grand Canyon Village.
A $208 million rehabilitation of the pipeline and upgrades to the associated water delivery system started in 2023, with the park service calling it a crucial investment to ensure the park can meet the needs of residents and visitors. The project was expected to be completed next year.
While the Grand Canyon has large storage tanks for potable water on the South Rim, they won’t be refilled while the pipeline is out of service.
Stengle reported from Dallas. Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City, Utah; Seth Borenstein in Kensington, Maryland; Julie Walker in New York City, Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed.
Bright Angel Canyon, damaged by flash floods, runs into the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, at Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Tourists check out of the El Tovar Hotel as lodging along the rim of the canyon was shut down due to flooding, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026 at Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz. (AP Photo/Josh Biggs)
Buildings are seen in a flood damaged Bright Angel Canyon the Grand Canyon, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, in Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Tourists look down into the Grand Canyon off of the south rim, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026 at Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz. (AP Photo/Josh Biggs)
Tourists check out of the El Tovar Hotel as lodging along the rim of the canyon was shut down due to flooding, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026 at Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz. (AP Photo/Josh Biggs)
Bright Angel Canyon, bottom left, the scene of flash floods, merges into the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, at Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Bright Angel Canyon, the scene of flash floods, runs into the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, at Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Bright Angel Canyon, the scene of flash floods, center right, merges with the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, at Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Bright Angel Canyon, middle left, the scene of flash floods, meets with the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, at Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz. (AP Photo/John Locher)
People stand at the rim of the Grand Canyon, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, in Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz. (AP Photo/John Locher)
People stand at the rim of the Grand Canyon, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, in Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz. (AP Photo/John Locher)
People stand at the rim of the Grand Canyon, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, in Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz. (AP Photo/John Locher)
This photo shows Grand Canyon National Park in northern Arizona on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, after it was hit by heavy flooding a day earlier. (Craig Sanderson via AP)
This photo shows Grand Canyon National Park in northern Arizona on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, after it was hit by heavy flooding a day earlier. (Craig Sanderson via AP)
Bright Angel Creek near the Phantom Ranger Station in the Grand Canyon, Arizona, is seen after flash flooding from storms, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026. (Parth Desai via AP)
