Ozuna Homers Twice, Marlins Avoid Sweep in 10-3 Win Against Brewers

The Miami Marlins (36-44) snapped a four-game losing streak and recorded 15 hits in their 10-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park Sunday afternoon. Marcell Ozuna led the Fish with two home runs but wasn’t alone as every starter recorded at least one hit in the hitting exhibition.

The Marlins fell behind early, 1-0, after Domingo Santana recorded a sacrifice fly that scored Eric Thames. The Brewers wouldn’t hold that lead for long, however, as J.T. Realmuto smacked a leadoff double to deep center field in the third inning. Christian Yelich then followed with a walk two batters later.

With Realmuto and Yelich on base, Ozuna — who had recorded just one RBI in his last eight games — came up to bat and crushed a three-run home run to center, giving Miami a 3-1 lead.

Milwaukee would inch closer with solo home runs from Thames and Orlando Arcia, but the Miami bats were ruthless. The Marlins began the fifth inning with singles by Yelich and Ozuna, followed by a Justin Bour RBI double to extend the lead to 4-2.

Miami then reeled off three consecutive singles by Realmuto, Stanton and Yelich in the sixth inning that extended the lead to two. Derek Dietrich smoked a fastball over the fence in the seventh inning — his fourth home run of the season — to put Miami up another run, 6-3, before the late-inning-onslaught began.

Ozuna hit his second home run of the day and 22nd of the season to lead off the eighth inning, which was followed by two walks and one hit batter to load the bases. Realmuto then recorded his third hit of the game, scoring Martin Prado and Dietrich to extend the Fish lead to 9-3.

In the ninth, Yelich and Prado doth doubled to give the Marlins their eighth 10-run game of the season.

Miami was also dynamite on the mound Sunday, allowing just three runs on seven hits. Dan Straily had another solid outing, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out four in six innings of work. Kyle Barraclough, David Phelps and AJ Ramos closed out the latter innings in style, recording four strikeouts in the final three frames.

The Marlins end the season’s first half with a seven-game road trip against the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants this week. Jeff Locke will look to rebound and record his first victory of the season Monday night against Adam Wainwright and the streaking Cardinals in St. Louis.