NEW YORK (AP) — Starling Marte walked to the plate with a gift — from a 12-year-old fan.
Batting with runners at the corners in the eighth inning of NL Championship Series Game 5, Marte wore an orange-white-and-blue necklace handed to him by a 12-year-old boy, Simeon.
Marte delivered an RBI single for his fourth hit and third RBI of the game in a 12-6 New York Mets victory over the Dodgers that forced a Game 6 in Los Angeles.
“Usually in the eighth inning I start to throw the balls to fans because I want the kids to go with a little memory. In the fifth inning a fan was trying to get my attention,” Marte said through an interpreter. “And in the seventh inning or eighth inning I ended up throwing the ball and they gave me the necklace. And in my next at-bat I ended up getting a hit there. I kind of just kept looking at him. So I just kept it. But it was a really special moment.”
Marte, a 36-year-old two-time All-Star, is hitting .409 with four RBIs in the series and .310 with nine RBIs in 12 postseason games.
“He’s been making the necklaces for a while for friends, and he had been trying for a few innings to give one to Starling,” Simeon’s father, Andrew, wrote in an email, asking that the family’s last name not be used. “He was so excited when he took it and then put it on.”
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