Robert Chou
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Instead, Ozuna’s heroic acts changed the narrative. In one release, he turned the weekend from sour to good.
Five observations:
1. As the Marlins huddled on the mound with closer Tanner Scott, Ozuna was in the batter’s box awaiting his turn at bat. With the tying run at second base, he knew he just needed to make contact. Despite his power, he understood that even a bloop would score Ronald Acuña Jr.
And at that moment, Ozuna also thought about something else: On Saturday, Scott had grounded him into a double play in the ninth inning of a loss.
“Today I said, ‘Okay, they will avenge me,’” Ozuna said.
He told Matt Olson, who walked to give Ozuna a chance. And Ozuna also remembered the sequence that Scott threw at him on Saturday: Slider in the middle, slider inside and slider down.
On Sunday, Scott started Ozuna with a slider away, not far from Saturday’s first pitch. He followed with a slider down and in. He then he threw a slider down.
It was below the zone, but it didn’t matter.
Ozuna punished him with a 409-foot home run that made the difference in the game.
“Confidence,” Ozuna said of how he hit a pitch so low and so far. “When you have confidence, you will see everything well and then you will be able to bat better. If you don’t have confidence, you will have difficulties. Like the first month of last year, I had (things) on my mind. But right now my mind is clear and I can do what God gives me.”
And Scott, who thought he should have thrown the slider further in, had this to say: “I was swinging big on every pitch. You try to get him where he’s not going to hit him and I threw him into his honey hole and he got it.”
And right now, that guy is on fire. Ozuna leads the MLB with 21 RBIs and his seven home runs are tied for first. He is hitting .373 with a 1.193 OPS.
And Sunday was another example of a commonly known fact: when Ozuna gets going, he is unstoppable. He hits anything, even a pitch below the zone.
“Yeah, he can really get anything,” Olson said. “Especially the things that are down there. He is also a good low ball hitter.”
“He’s a good hitter,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “When he gets going, when those guys get hot, that thing is awfully slow for him.”
2. In the innings before Ozuna’s home run, the Braves watched a four-run lead turn into a two-run deficit. They faced the possibility of losing a series to the team with the second-worst record in baseball.
The Braves seemed frustrated after Saturday’s loss. Another defeat – and the way it turned out – would have been brutal.
In an instant, Ozuna rescued the Braves from that reality.
“He hit that ball and the guys that were here, that were here (in the clubhouse), were just screaming,” Charlie Morton said. “Just very, very excited. The bench was really excited. …When you have those moments and the guys encourage each other and support each other, it’s a great moment. The Marlins played a good series and coming out with a win today was tough (for them).”
The home run completely changed the mood and outlook of the weekend.
“It’s important because our goal is to win the series,” Snitker said. “This was a very close game, so it’s important. Because we are going to (face) a team that seems to be starting to heat up as well, the Astros. The next three days will also be interesting.”
3. Ozuna enjoys the most important moments of a game. He has something that makes him special in these places.
“I definitely think there’s something about him that gives him some freedom at the plate,” Charlie Morton said.
However, a year ago I was struggling. He was 59-5 when the Braves arrived in Miami, the official turning point of Ozuna’s season.
From May 2 of last season (when that series began) through Sunday’s game, Ozuna has 39 home runs, third in baseball in that span. He has hit .300 in that stretch.
“He’s definitely had to overcome a lot,” Morton said. “I remember at the beginning of last year, he was working and working, and he came to the field every day and stayed focused, followed the process and moved forward. Since I’ve been here, he’s been a good teammate, he’s been a professional, he’s been someone who cares about his guys. But he keeps moving.
“Seeing him have success, especially the way he turned it on last year – it just completely changed him – and I think I knew and everyone knew that that was going to happen at some point, and it was just a matter of when. Watching him, especially the challenges he had at the beginning of the year: he was going through some struggles, fans were criticizing him, but you knew he was going to keep going. He’s been doing it for a long time, he’s had a really good career. So, it’s nice to see him have these moments.”
4. Morton allowed six runs in 5 2/3 innings. Pitching with a four-run lead, he allowed two runs in the bottom of the fourth and one in the bottom of the fifth.
Miami then scored three in the sixth. Two were charged to Morton, but the third went to Dylan Lee, who hit a two-run homer that put Atlanta in a two-run hole.
But baseball’s best offense wasn’t over yet.
5. The Braves will start Darius Vines on Monday, whom they called up on Friday. Vines hasn’t released since April 4.
The vacant rotation spot was scheduled to come up Tuesday, but the Braves moved Reynaldo Lopez, who had been lined up to start Monday’s opener in Houston, to Tuesday. Max Fried will pitch Wednesday.
The Braves simply didn’t want Vines to go too long without pitching. Lopez last started on April 9, so he has had less time between starts.
But first, a happy flight for the Braves, who will enjoy this victory.
statistics to know
.295, .842 – Entering Sunday, Ozuna had a .295 batting average and .842 OPS in 348 career games at this ballpark. Among places where he has played in at least 25 games, Ozuna’s batting average is the highest here and his OPS here is the fourth-best mark for him in any ballpark.
Quotable
“Everyone is a threat. As a guy who sees that every day, it’s pretty amazing, pretty special. Special group.”-Morton on the Braves
Until next time
The Braves will face Astros right-hander Spencer Arrighetti on Monday at 8:10 p.m. He will make the second appearance of his major league career. In the first, he allowed seven runs in three innings.
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