Truex beats Hamlin to win at Martinsville
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Martin Truex Jr. admits to being surprised by his success at Martinsville Speedway.
Truex won a stirring, laps-long duel for the lead with teammate Denny Hamlin in the rain-delayed NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday night, winning for the third time in the last four stops at the 0.526-mile oval — the oldest and shortest in the series.
“This place has become a playground for us I guess,” Truex said in Victory Lane. “We didn’t have the best car all day, but we just kept working on it and never quit on it.”
Truex, who nudged Hamlin repeatedly in the turns and tried to get to his inside on the straightaways without success, finally made the pass with 15 laps to go, ducking underneath Hamlin coming out of the second turn. He sailed off to victory without another challenge as Hamlin and Chase Elliott battled the rest of the way for second.
Truex became the first repeat winner in NASCAR’s top series this season.
The race was rained out after 42 laps Saturday night, and was completed as the second part of a doubleheader that started with the completion of the rain-delayed Xfinity Series race from Friday night.
Elliott, who won here last fall on his way to winning the series championship, held off Hamlin for second. Hamlin was third, followed by William Byron and Kyle Larson.
“That was a lot of fun there at the end, racing with Denny,” Truex said about his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate. “We raced clean and we were able to come out on top.”
The Gibbs team had all four of its drivers finish in the top 10 as Christopher Bell took seventh and Kyle Busch 10th, leaving team owner Joe Gibbs excited, and relieved.
“I was just praying that Denny and Martin didn’t get together running up front,” Gibbs said.
The outcome was not only disappointing for Hamlin, who had a dominant car and led 276 laps, but also for Ryan Blaney, who won the first two stages and led 157 laps but dragged an air gun out of his pit after the final stop and was sent back to 19th in the field.
Blaney rallied to finish
innings to carve through Cincinnati’s red-hot lineup, throwing 63 strikes. He struck out eight. The Reds came into the game hitting .312 as a team, which was tops in the majors.
“There was just a lot of confidence right from the get-go,” Weaver said. “Mechanically, seeing the results. Finishing pitches.”
Rookie Matt Peacock pitched the final two innings to complete the two-hitter.
David Peralta hit a threerun homer in the third, his first of the season, to put the Diamondbacks ahead 4-0. Arizona threatened again in the fourth, but Christian Walker struck out with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Escobar added a 2-run shot down the right-field line in the fifth to push the D-backs ahead 6-0. His fourgame homer streak is a career best.
José De León (0-1) allowed six runs over 4 1/3 innings. He struck out nine, walked three and gave up eight hits, including the two homers.
Arizona won the threegame series after losing Friday’s opener, cooling off the Reds after a 6-1 start, which was the best opening week for the franchise since 1994.
“It was pretty obvious that Weaver had good stuff,” Reds manager David Bell said. “We had three or four, maybe five, well-hit balls, but that’s going to happen. The other at-bats, he was in command and dominated with his fastball
and changeup.
“All game we thought we were going to get runners on and get back in it but it didn’t happen today.”
Suárez and Kyle Farmer had Cincinnati’s only hits.
RESURGENT WEAVER
Weaver led the NL in losses last season with nine and had a 6.58 ERA.
In 2019, he was one of the D-backs’ best pitchers with a 2.94 ERA through 12 starts before injuries cut his season short. He is in his sixth big league season but won’t become a free agent until 2024.
“Last year was a crazy year for everyone,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “I felt like the stuff was there, it was just about execution. And he executed a great game plan today by locating his fastball.”
ON-BASE MACHINE
Arizona’s Josh VanMeter reached base in all five of his plate appearances. He had a single, a double and three walks. VanMeter played 1 1/2 seasons for the Reds, who traded him to
the D-backs last year. TRAINER’S ROOM
Reds: OF Jesse Winker was out of the starting lineup for a second day in a row after dealing with calf cramps in Friday’s win. He came into the game as a pinch-hitter in the ninth.
Diamondbacks: OF Kole Calhoun got the day off. Lovullo said the team is trying to make sure Calhoun doesn’t overwork his surgically repaired right knee. Calhoun started the first two games of the series.
UP NEXT
The Reds head to San Francisco for a three-game series, with Wade Miley (1-0, 0.00 ERA) starting the opener against the Giants’ Aaron Sanchez (0-0, 1.80).
The Diamondbacks send LHP Madison Bumgarner to the mound against Oakland. The four-time AllStar has had a tough start to the season with an 0-1 record and an 11.00 ERA. RHP Chris Bassitt (0-2, 5.56) starts for the Athletics.