After losing two games to Marlins ace Sandy Alcántara in the span of a week, the Braves took full advantage of having another Miami pitcher take the mound on Sunday afternoon.
The Braves lineup scored in each of the first three innings against Miami starter Elieser Hernández, highlighted by a pair of mammoth home runs by left fielder Marcell Ozuna, to take the deciding game of their series, 6-3. The win also secured the Braves’ first victorious homestand of the season.
Marlins designated hitter Jorge Soler opened the scoring against his former team with a solo home run against Braves starter Max Fried. Then, Ozuna, a former Marlin, returned the favor with a 413-foot homer to center that splashed in the outfield pool.
“He finally pulled out the former team card,” manager Brian Snitker said. “We put it to good use with him because Jorge sure torched us with it.”
Third baseman Austin Riley followed Ozuna’s power display with a 437-foot blast to left field, marking the second time this season that the Braves have hit home runs in consecutive at-bats.
Ozuna stayed hot in his next at-bat. The two-time All Star smoked a Hernández slider 458 feet to left field to boost the Braves’ lead to three runs, 4-1. The Braves hit Hernández hard over his four innings of work - eight Braves hits had exit velocities over 100 mph - and built an early lead that would last them the game.
“After that, I was trying to hit it three,” Ozuna said. “I couldn’t get it, but I had a good game and Fried had a good game, too.”
The Braves continued their success against the Marlins’ bullpen with back-to-back RBI doubles in the fifth inning. Nine of the Braves’ 11 hits went for extra bases, including two doubles each from first baseman Matt Olson and second baseman Ozzie Albies.
Fried settled in after Soler’s first-inning home run and pitched at least six innings for his eighth consecutive start. The Marlins put runners on first and second with no outs in the fifth inning, but he responded by striking out left fielder Jon Berti and second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., then tossed first baseman Garrett Cooper’s grounder to first base to end the inning.
Fried surrendered six hits and walked three, but limited the damage to one earned run across six innings and recorded his 500th major league strikeout on a third-inning whiff from Soler. After reliever Jackson Stephens allowed the Marlins to cut into the Braves’ lead on Soler’s second home run of the day, a two-run rocket, in the seventh inning, A.J. Minter and Kenley Jansen closed out Miami in the final frames.
“I definitely didn’t feel like I had the best fastball coming in, but I was able to really rely on Travis [d’Arnaud] back there,” Fried said. “The offense obviously exploded, a bunch of the homers, and was able to take the pressure off.”
Next up, the Braves will travel to Phoenix to face the Arizona Diamondbacks for a three-game series. Right-hander Spencer Strider (1-1, 2.22 ERA) will transition from the bullpen to the rotation and make his first career major league start against Diamondbacks ace Zac Gallen (3-0, 2.22 ERA).
