Saturday night was a memorable night for Dodgers fans. They got to see their team tack on 18 runs in an absolute offensive onslaught of the Arizona Diamondbacks. However, all the hits and home runs won’t be what fans take away and remember most from last nights affair. It was a 1-2-3 ninth innings in a 13-run game. Getting his first action on the mound last night, was 36-year-old Russell Martin. Yeah, the Dodgers’ catcher. With a 13-run lead in the final frame, manager Dave Roberts sent out his catcher to the mound to help secure the win. Usually when a position player comes in to pitch, it’s when their team is down a lot of runs in the late stages of a game. Though on Saturday, it was quite the opposite. After nearly blowing through his entire plethora of arms on Friday night, Roberts wanted to save an arm, and used his catcher instead. It worked, as Martin pitched a quick 1-2-3 ninth, making some history in the process. Russell Martin is the first full-time position player to work a 1-2-3 ninth in a team win since 1925. https://t.co/r0FScfE21B pic.twitter.com/1yP74VeeA2 — MLB Stats (@MLBStats) March 31, 2019 Roberts joked about using Martin after the game. “He was our most effective pitcher these three games.” he said. Weeks ago at Spring Training, I caught up with Martin and talked with him about his ability to play all over the field. He talked about how he can play anywhere, but still had one position to check off his bucket list. Caught up with Russell Martin yesterday and asked where he's comfortable playing this season: "I can play anywhere. I just haven’t pitched yet, maybe at some point I’ll be able to do that too. Maybe get an inning here or there." #Dodgers — Blake Harris (@BlakeHarrisTBLA) March 12, 2019 Martin, who said he hasn’t pitched in a game in 20 years, was all smiles after his outing. "I want to know what my spin rate was. Everybody's talking about spin rate. I want to know if I have a good spin rate or not." — Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) March 31, 2019 Should this be his last career time stepping foot on the mound, he’ll retire with a career ERA and WHIP of 0.00. Truly remarkable.<doc-sep>The Telegraph Two of the surprise packages of this clay-court season have been British – initially Dan Evans, who made a deep run in Monte Carlo, and more lately Cameron Norrie, who played his second final in three weeks on Sunday. Unfortunately, Norrie wasn’t able to land a maiden ATP title in Lyon. But then he was up against Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has been the dominant force of 2021 outside the slams, and now stands at No 1 in the table of most rankings points gained since January 1. Nevertheless, it had been a hugely creditable effort for Norrie to go this far, especially when you consider that he took out top seed Dominic Thiem on Thursday, and then trounced big-hitting Russian Karen Khachanov in Saturday’s semi-final, losing only two games in the process. Norrie has come to clay late in his career, but it feels like this is developing into his favourite surface. He has one of the heaviest left-handed forehands in the game, loaded with top-spin, and uses it like a miniature version of Rafael Nadal. The result has been a tally of 14 wins and only four losses since he began his European clay-court swing in Barcelona. So while the French Open, which starts next Sunday, has traditionally been a graveyard of British hopes, there are reasons to hope that this year’s event could deliver some more positive results. Norrie’s previous final in Estoril had been a nervewracking affair which he eventually lost on a deciding-set tie-break to the more experienced Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Sunday was more straightforward for Tsitsipas, who needed only 69 minutes to hammer home a 6-3, 6-3 victory. It was Tsitsipas’ second title of the clay-court sequence, after he won Monte Carlo in mid-April, taking out Evans in the semi-final along the way. He has become a serious contender to upset the establishment – specifically Nadal and Novak Djokovic – at Roland Garros over the next few weeks. “I felt in good shape from the beginning of the tournament,” said Tsitsipas afterwards. “I am proud of today’s match, I knew it would be a difficult one against Cameron, who has been showing great tennis this week. He has been winning against good players and showing what the left hand can do on clay. “It was not an easy match today. I had to handle the nerves and I am proud of my performance and the way I stayed focused towards my goal.” On this year’s results, meanwhile, both Evans and Norrie stand among the world’s 20 most successful men. Evans is at No 16 and Norrie No 14. The next challenge for them both is to convert that ATP Tour form into a deep run at a major.<doc-sep>On the third full day of the MLB season, a catcher pitched to a catcher who was in the game as a pitcher. The strange scenario unfolded in the ninth inning of the Dodgers' 18-5 victory over the Diamondbacks. LA backup catcher Russell Martin was on to finish the game, and one of the three men he faced (and retired) was Arizona backup catcher John Ryan Murphy, who had just pitched the seventh and eighth innings to give rest to a relief group that had thrown 12 1/3 innings over the previous two days, including eight in a 13-inning victory Friday. Although, it might be a stretch to say that Murphy was "pitching." He chose to throw his fastball in the 60 mph range and ensured that he didn't injure his throwing arm. He held the Dodgers scoreless in the seventh, but the magic disappeared in the eighth when LA scored seven runs. Murphy allowed home runs to Dodgers No. 1 catcher Austin Barnes and right fielder Cody Bellinger. MORE: Watch 'ChangeUp,' a new MLB live whiparound show on DAZN Martin, wearing his familiar No. 55 (which was also Orel Hershiser's number), topped out at 83 mph in his pitching debut. Russell Martin pure filth. pic.twitter.com/n1DoSm6IgR — Jacob Rudner (@Jacob_Rudner) March 31, 2019 "They just asked me if I had pitched before and I told them, 'Yeah.' And (they asked), 'You want to pitch?' I was like, 'Absolutely.' Next thing you know, I was on the bump," Martin told reporters, per Michael J. Duarte of NBC LA. In case you're wondering, both men will be eligible to pitch next year if this situation comes up again. MLB and the players association agreed to rule changes for 2020 that are designed to limit the use of position players on the mound, but position players will still be able to pitch when the margin is six or more runs. Murphy entered with the D-backs trailing 11-3. Position players pitched in record numbers last season, mostly because clubs tried to protect relievers but also because clubs were looking to develop two-way players. Part of the 2020 rule change requires teams to designate players as position players or pitchers on their first day on the active roster. Players can also be designated as two-way players if they pitch 20 or more innings and start 20 or more games in the field or as a designated hitter (and have at least three plate appearances in each of those starts) in the current season or the previous season.<doc-sep>
The bizarre start to the Dodgers and Diamondbacks’ season-opening series — already setting records with eight Dodgers home runs on opening day and a six-hour, five-minute test of wills Friday — took another sharp turn Saturday night at Dodger Stadium. Historically, position players usually have been asked to pitch as a last resort in blowouts when the team getting rammed wants to save its bullpen. In the Dodgers’ 18-5 win Saturday, that convention was defied with two catchers reversing roles to different results. It began in the bottom of the seventh inning with the Diamondbacks trailing 11-3. They had two more turns at bat to overcome the deficit. The odds were long but existent. Arizona threw in the towel anyway. Instead of pushing their depleted bullpen, the Diamondbacks gave the ball to John Ryan Murphy, one of the three catchers on their roster. Murphy’s arsenal consisted of one pitch. It vacillated between slow and very slow, never climbing above 65 mph, without any movement. The Dodgers loaded the bases but Murphy somehow escaped. The Diamondbacks then scored two runs to trim the Dodgers’ lead to six. Murphy wasn’t as fortunate in the eighth. Cody Bellinger cracked a two-run home run and Austin Barnes also hit a two-run shot. The Dodgers solved Murphy and it became batting practice. They punished the right-hander for seven runs. “You try to do too much, you’re going to get out like a few people did the first time and we made adjustments the second time,” Bellinger said. “You got to really stay short with those guys. You just got to take advantage with those opportunities.” As the Dodgers’ bats pounded away, manager Dave Roberts, looking to avoid using another reliever for the ninth inning, approached Russell Martin with a question: Can you pitch? The 36-year-old catcher answered yes, even though he later estimated he hadn’t pitched in a game in nearly 20 years. He was convincing enough and went down to the batting cage to warm up. The session lasted about three minutes. “Next thing you know,” Martin said, “I was on the bump at Dodger Stadium.” Martin outshined his counterpart in his second game as a Dodger since 2010. He got Ketel Marte to swing through his second pitch — a 75-mph fastball that registered as a slider — and take strike two before inducing a groundout on a 69-mph breaking pitch. Martin wasn’t sure what to call it. “It’s not really a slider, it’s not really a curveball,” Martin said. “It’s an in-betweener, but I want to know what my spin rate is like. Everyone’s talking about spin rate. I wonder if I had a good spin rate.” He got another called strike against the second batter he faced, Nick Ahmed, who grounded out to shortstop. That brought up Murphy. Martin dialed it up a notch for the clash, reaching back for an 84-mph fastball Murphy fouled off. Murphy lifted the next pitch — Martin’s 10th — to center field for the game’s final out. Martin looked the part until the very end when he forgot to meet his catcher, Austin Barnes, for the customary celebratory handshake. First baseman David Freese had to remind him to turn around. “He was our most efficient pitcher so far these three games,” Roberts said. Sign up for our Dodgers newsletter » jorge.castillo@latimes.com Twitter: @jorgecastillo