Russell Martin starts at shortstop, breaks up Aaron Nola's no-hit bid in Blue Jays' loss

John Arlia

•
Russell Martin starts at shortstop, breaks up Aaron Nola's no-hit bid in Blue Jays' loss image

Russell Martin had a memorable afternoon in the Blue Jays' 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday at Citizens Bank Park.

The 35-year-old catcher, who has played in over 1,500 games across 13 MLB seasons, started at shortstop for the first time in his career. It was a late decision made by manager John Gibbons due to Toronto's lack of depth at the position.

"Really, we don't have a true shortstop on the team right now," Gibbons told MLB.com ahead of the game. "Russ has got good range, got a good arm, he has good everything, has good hands. So we'll send him out there."

Martin, who played an inning at shortstop earlier this month in a loss to the Mets, recorded his first professional putout at the position with a nifty backhand stop and easy throw across the diamond to retire Jorge Alfaro in the home half of the fifth inning.

Martin caught a Rhys Hoskins pop-up an inning later, but that was the extent of his defensive playmaking in the contest. Still, he became the first player aged 35 or older to make his career first start at shortstop since Jeff Cirillo (36 yr, 255 days) did so with the Brewers on June 5, 2006. 

While the afternoon was supposed to be about Martin's glove, the veteran also showed what he can still do with a bat.

With Toronto trailing 1-0 in the seventh inning, Martin grounded a 2-2 pitch into left field, scoring first baseman Justin Smoak and ending Aaron Nola's no-hit bid at 6.2 innings.

The Blue Jays couldn't keep the rally going and Nick Williams hit a pinch-hit home run in the eighth inning to give the Phillies the lead for good. 

Toronto will try to get the bats going again in the rubber game of the series on Sunday afternoon (1:35 p.m. ET).

John Arlia