Ozuna slugs Marlins past Braves
MIAMI -- Marcell Ozuna homered twice and drove in a career-high six runs as the Miami Marlins won their home opener, defeating the Atlanta Braves 8-4 on Tuesday night at Marlins Park.
Ozuna hit a sacrifice fly in the first inning, stroked an opposite-field three-run homer in the third and slugged a two-run shot to left in the fifth.
It was Ozuna's second two-homer game. His first was on June 20 against the Colorado Rockies.
Miami improved to 4-3. Atlanta (1-6) has lost five straight games.
Two players made their major-league debuts. Marlins shortstop J.T. Riddle went 0-for-4, and Braves pinch hitter Johan Camargo struck out but reached on a wild pitch.
Dan Straily (1-1) earned his first win as a member of the Marlins, allowing three runs, two earned, in five innings.
Bartolo Colon (0-1) took the loss, allowing six runs in four innings.
Miami opened the game with three straight singles that led to three first-inning runs.
Dee Gordon and J.T. Realmuto set the table, and Yelich knocked in the first run with his opposite-field single. After a walk to Stanton, Miami capped the inning with sacrifice flies by Justin Bour and Ozuna.
Ozuna's homer to right in the third scored Yelich and Bour, who had singled.
Nick Markakis pulled a solo homer to right in the fourth, cutting Miami's lead to 6-1.
Atlanta, with the help of a fielding error by Straily, scratched for two runs in the top of the fifth. But that was negated by Ozuna's two-run shot in the bottom of the inning, increasing Miami's advantage to 8-3.
NOTES: The crowd was announced at 36,519 ... plus one gray cat, which created a stir on Twitter. The cat was spotted by TV cameras in the fifth inning, racing from the first-base area and eventually crawling up the center field T-Mobile sign after being approached by Marlins outfielders Christian Yelich and Giancarlo Stanton. ... Braves LF Matt Kemp (left hamstring) was placed on the 10-day disabled list. ... Braves 2B Brandon Phillips stole his 200th career base in the second inning. ... Marlins SS J.T. Riddle, 25, was batting .429 in 14 at-bats at Triple-A New Orleans when he was recalled on Sunday. ... Marlins C J.T. Realmuto was named the NL Player of the Week after batting .500 with two homers. ... The Marlins honored the 20th anniversary of their first World Series title team. Three members of that 1997 team threw out first pitches -- C Charles Johnson, SS Edgar Renteria and RHP Livan Hernandez. ... Half of Miami's starting infield is on the disabled list: 3B Martin Prado (hamstring), who has yet to play this season, and SS Adeiny Hechavarria (oblique strain) was placed on the 10-day disabled list on Sunday. ... Braves LHP Jaime Garcia (0-1, 6.00 ERA) will start against Marlins RHP Tom Koehler (0-0, 1.80) on Wednesday.