LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Marcell Ozuna homered and promising prospect Brian Anderson extended R.A. Dickey's frustration during a four-run fourth inning that propelled the Marlins to a 9-3 win over the Braves on Monday afternoon at ESPN's Wide World of Sports complex.
Ozuna got the Marlins rolling when he opened the second inning by denting the left-center-field scoreboard with his fourth home run of the spring. The 26-year-old outfielder also drew the first of the two consecutive one-out walks Dickey issued in the fourth. The free passes loaded the bases, which Anderson, who ranks as Miami's No. 3 prospect per MLBPipeline.com, promptly cleared with a three-run triple.
Working on a curveball he plans to utilize more frequently within his knuckleball-heavy repertoire this year, Dickey allowed six runs (four earned) and six hits over 5 2/3 innings. He also made one of two Braves errors in the fourth inning when he missed a catch on a feed from Freddie Freeman.
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"[The curveball] is going to be a big pitch for me this year," Dickey said. "I got some swings and misses with it and let them see I have one in the arsenal. I got a lot accomplished today. I'll be ready to go back out there in five days."
Marlins right-hander Stephen Fife scattered three hits and allowed a run over four innings as he made his first start of the Grapefruit League season. The 30-year-old Fife, who is not expected to be part of Miami's Opening Day roster, pitched around Emilio Bonifacio and Freeman singles in the first inning.
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"You can kind of pick the starting five; all those guys are pretty well established," Fife said of the Marlins' rotation. "So I wouldn't say there's a ton of spots, but baseball is kind of a next-guy-up game, you never know what's going to happen with two weeks to go."
Adeiny Hechavarria's throwing error to begin the bottom of the fifth helped set the stage for Brandon Phillips to deliver a two-out RBI single off Justin Nicolino, who allowed two hits and two runs (one earned) over four innings as he competes for one Miami's remaining roster spots. Jace Peterson's sixth-inning RBI single accounted for Atlanta's only other run until Carlos Franco lined an RBI double with two outs in the ninth.
Marlins Up Next:Wei-Yin Chen will make his fourth start of the spring against the Astros in Jupiter, Fla. on Tuesday at 1:05 p.m. ET in a game that will air on Gameday Audio.
Braves Up Next:Ender Inciarte, Dansby Swanson and Adonis Garcia will be in the lineup when Atlanta travels to West Palm Beach, Fla., to play the Nationals on Tuesday at 1:05 p.m. ET. Inciarte will be playing his first game for the Braves since leaving for the World Baseball Classic two weeks ago. Mike Foltynewicz could complete at least five innings in what will be his fifth start of the spring. Listen on Gameday Audio.
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