Ozuna goes deep twice as Miami halts skid
MILWAUKEE — Just hours before Marcell Ozuna received his second consecutive All-Star selection, the Miami Marlins’ most productive hitter did what stars are supposed to do.
With the Marlins desperate for offense in seeking to avoid a weekend sweep at Miller Park, Ozuna hit two home runs, driving in four runs during a three-hit day to power a 10-3 victory and halt a four-game losing streak.
He hit the second one in the eighth inning using a bat of fellow All-Star Giancarlo Stanton after the Brewers complained his bat had pine tar extending too far from the handle.
“Yeah their manager said you can’t use the bat,” Ozuna said. “It doesn’t matter. I just focus on swinging at the pitch.”
Ozuna smashed a nodoubter 455 feet to left off Paolo Espino leading off the inning. It registered 112 mph off the bat.
Ironically, it gave Ozuna the team lead in homers with 22, passing Stanton.
Earlier, Ozuna teed off on a 2-1 fastball from Brewers starter Junior Guerra and drove it off the batter’s eye in center field for a three-run homer in the third inning. That one traveled 425 feet, according to Statcast.
The bat doesn’t seem to matter to Ozuna. He hit two earlier this season using one of Ichiro Suzuki’s bats. Last season he homered with one of Barry Bonds’ bats.
“He could probably pick up a 2-by-4 and be able to hit with it,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said.
Earlier, home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt rejected Brewer Jonathan Villar’s bat for pine tar extending more than the allowable 18 inches from the handle. Mattingly said he didn’t raise the issue.
Ozuna’s homer put the matter to rest and silenced the Miller Park crowd while providing a glimpse of the All-Star credentials Ozuna has been building all season.
It was announced after the game that Ozuna was voted an All-Star starter for the first time (he started as an injury replacement last year). Stanton was named as a reserve for the July 11 game at Marlins Park, his fourth star selection.
Just shows it’s not the bat, it’s the batter. And Ozuna has thrived at Miller Park with nine homers in 16 career games.
Derek Dietrich also contributed a solo homer, his fourth, as part of an unusual line that included being hit by pitches twice and an intentional walk.
Christian Yelich had four hits, including a double, in the Marlins’ 17-hit assault.
Starter Dan Straily gave Miami six solid innings, holding a good-hitting Brewers club to three runs and five hits, and the bullpen held firm over the final three innings.
After letting some prime scoring chances slip through their grasp, the Marlins finally broke it open in a threerun eighth with J.T. Realmuto’s two-run single finishing what Ozuna started with his second homer.
The inability to take advantage of scoring chances and build on early leads has been a recurring problem for the Marlins lately. This time they kept chipping away, but still left a lot of would-be runs on the table, leaving 15 runners on base.
Ozuna struck out with two runners in scoring position in the sixth, when the Marlins added a run on Christian’s Yelich’s RBI-single but left the bases loaded when Martin Prado grounded out.
The previous two innings ended with double-play grounders by Stanton and JT Riddle, both with multiple runners on base.
In the seventh, Stanton’s sharp grounder to short with the Brewers’ infield playing in led to Ichiro being thrown out a home.
Stanton made the defensive play of the day with a long run to catch Eric Sogard’s drive to the corner in right with two runners on in the seventh and the Marlins holding a vulnerable 6-3 lead.
“I thought that was a big play because that could have caused a lot of trouble,” Mattingly said. “Each inning it was like we were getting one in there but we weren’t adding on. So we left them in the game, and that play right there kind of stopped that. He made that nice play and we get the next out. That was a big out for us.”
Straily improved to 4-0 with a 2.12 ERA in six career games (five starts) against the Brewers. The righthander wasn’t as effective this time, giving up homers to Orlando Arcia and Eric Thames, but both were with the bases empty.