MIAMI — Atlanta Braves designated hitter Marcell Ozuna hopes his two-homer outing against the Miami Marlins is the spark he needed to break out of his early season slump.
Ozuna hit a grand slam to get things rolling, and Ronald Acuña Jr. also homered as the Atlanta Braves went deep six times in all to roll past the Miami Marlins, 14-6 on Wednesday night.
“Sometimes you have to put your head down, but always in your mind you have to keep your head up and keep grinding,” said Ozuna, who is batting just .111 this season. “For me it’s hard, a hard moment starting the season, a hard April for me. I have to go out, new month and say, ‘Let’s go,’ and do my best.”
The 32-year-old Ozuna hit the seventh grand slam of his MLB career — and Atlanta’s first of the season — during a seven-run second inning in which the Braves sent 12 batters to the plate against Miami left-hander Braxton Garrett (1-1). Ozuna also had a solo homer in the third and finished the game 3-for-5.
Acuña’s three-run shot to center field in the fifth inning was his sixth home run of the season and made it 11-4 before Austin Riley homered to left-center to add two more runs.