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Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said Monday the decision to hold Marte out of that day's starting lineup was "preventative" and described the second baseman as being in the "red zone," Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports reports. "The left leg, it probably wasn't 100% when he came back, if you guys studied the swings enough, you could recognize he was protecting that space," the manager said.

Lovullo added that Marte was available off the bench, and the infielder entered as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning and finished the game at second base. The Diamondbacks lost to the Giants and are now one-and-a-half games ahead of Atlanta for the final wild card spot with five games left (six for Atlanta). Reading between the lines of Lovullo's comments, Monday's lighter-than-normal effort sets up Marte to finish out the season as an everyday lineup presence.

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