Takeaways: Marcell Ozuna Homers Late as Braves Come Back and Stun Marlins

The Atlanta Braves used a big 9th inning to come back and beat the Miami Marlins 9-7 in the finale, securing the series win.

Here’s what you need to know about from the contest.

The Braves got to Jesús Luzardo early and often

The Braves had some early offensive success, scoring in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th innings to stake Atlanta to a 5-0 lead early. The middle of the order were the big culprits here, with Matt Olson, Marcell Ozuna, and Adam Duvall combining to go 7-12 with four runs and seven RBIs. Duvall almost got a homer in the 2nd inning, with a sac fly caught at the left-field wall leading to the team’s first run, and then did get that homer in the 4th on a leadoff shot to center.  

Miami’s Opening Day starter finished five runs allowed on seven hits in his five innings, with one walk and four strikeouts on 94 pitches (60 strikes). The Marlins have lost all four of his starts.

Charlie Morton struggled in this one

The veteran battled through 5.2 innings in this one, giving up six runs on seven hits – Bryan De La Cruz hit a homer off of Morton, while three other Marlins picked up extra base hits. Morton came out with two outs in the fifth inning and a runner on base, and Nick Gordon promptly hit a two-run homer off of Dylan Lee to give Miami the lead and close the book on Morton. 

Something I’ve seen enough of now to ask if it’s a trend or not – Morton’s velocity is down. He averaged only 93.4 mph on his fastball in this outing, down from his 2023 average of 94.9. Morton’s slowest fastball in the outing was 92.6 mph.

(By contrast, of the 838 four-seam fastballs that Morton threw in 2023, only ten of them were slower than 92.6 mph.)

Even though there’s going to be some natural increase in velocity during the first month or so of the season, as pitchers continue stretching out and getting into mid-season form, it feels like Morton’s destined to land at a lower average velocity in 2024 than he’s used to working with. 

Does this matter? I’m not sure. The fastball wasn’t that great last season – allowing a .297 batting average with a .487 slug – but further diminished velocity raises the stakes on both the curveball maintaining its excellence as well as raising the need for Morton to throw the cutter and/or sinker more than in 2023, where they were both in the single digits of usage. 

Marcell Ozuna is HIM

The Big Bear was three for five in this one, picking up an RBI double in the sixth inning to not only extend his hitting streak to thirteen games, but move into a tie for the MLB lead in RBIs on the season. 

And then, he did this with two outs and two strikes in the ninth, with Atlanta losing by a run: 

The four RBI day catapults Ozuna into sole possession of the MLB lead, and his seven homers tie him with Boston Red Sox outfielder Tyler O’Neil. He’s batting .373 with a 1.193 OPS on the year and has been, arguably, Atlanta’s best offensive performer of the season. 

Questions about in-game decisions

For as good as Brian Snitker has been during his tenure as manager of the Braves, there’s some in-game decisions that have confounded us in the past, with both examples coming up today. 

Charlie Morton was in a bit of trouble in the 6th – he opened the inning with a walk, and after that runner advanced to scoring position, gave up a game-tying base hit. Dylan Lee was ready in the pen when the inning started, but perhaps owing to Morton’s lower pitch count and the need to try and not burn out the pen, Snit stuck with Morton until the lead was already lost before making the change. 

And then in the seventh inning, with Atlanta having already narrowed the deficit to one run, there was a chance for the Braves to blow the game wide open: Runners on 2nd and 3rd and righty Sixto Sanchez, who entered this game with seven runs allowed in 4.1 innings, on the mound. 

But rather than switch to lefty Jarred Kelenic, Snit stuck with Adam Duvall, who promptly struck out in what would have been the turning point in Atlanta’s attempted comeback if not for Marcell Ozuna’s love of crushing homers in Miami. 

What’s next for the Atlanta Braves?

Atlanta’s packing up and heading to Houston for a new series against the Astros. First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 PM ET, and the pitching matchup is officially Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti vs TBA – we broke down the possibilities of who might pitch for Atlanta earlier this morning. 

UPDATE: Brian Snitker confirmed after the game that Darius Vines will get the start against the Astros.