Look out! Marte walks it off for Chattanooga

Watch out, world: Noelvi Marte is swinging a white-hot bat.

The latest trick for MLB’s No. 25 overall prospect? A walk-off, two-run homer for Double-A Chattanooga, his third dinger in two games.

The Reds’ second-ranked prospect broke out of a power drought with a two-homer performance on Thursday, the sixth such effort of his career, and followed it up in style on Friday to lift the Lookouts to a 6-4 victory.

The righty slugger hit his first homer of the year on April 12 and went 17 games before leaving the yard again, the fourth-longest stretch of his career.

The 21-year-old reached base three times in the contest, drawing a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first and swiping second. Chattanooga took a 2-0 lead into the sixth, but Birmingham stormed back to tie the contest.

Leading off the bottom of the sixth, the Barons brought in a lefty to try and set the Lookouts down, but Marte -- who is hitting .211 against southpaws this season -- sent the third pitch of his at-bat back up the middle for his first hit of the game. Two batters later, Marte came around to score the go-ahead run on a Nicholas Northcut double.

The game was knotted again at four apiece entering the bottom of the ninth, and the first two Chattanooga batters struck out. The game seemed destined to head to extras.

First, Ashton Creal kept the Lookouts’ hopes alive with a two-out single. Then, Marte decided to end the game right then and there.

The hype was evident as the Dominican Republic native connected on the no-doubt blast off righty Nick Gallagher. Creal sprinted from first to third out of pure excitement as he watched the ball leave the yard. He hopped onto home plate, awaiting the game’s hero with the rest of the team.

As Marte approached the mob of teammates at home, he tapped the front of his chest and pointed down in excitement before throwing his helmet off and jumping onto home.

After a slow start to the season, the infielder has started looking like himself over the past 10 games, slashing .342/.409/.632 with five extra-base hits, seven RBIs and three steals in that span. Acquired from the Mariners as part of the Luis Castillo trade in 2022, Marte is slashing .277/.373/.823 with eight homers in 54 games across two levels with his new organization.