Ozuna's blast, 5-run 6th push Marlins past Rays

May 3rd, 2017

ST. PETERSBURG -- 's mammoth home run and a five-run sixth fueled the Marlins' 10-6 win over the Rays on Wednesday night at Tropicana Field.
"It was nice to see," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "These guys have had our number."
The Marlins have won just six of their last 16 games at Tropicana Field.
In the top of the fourth, Ozuna's shot off Rays starter cleared the upper deck and hit the Rays' 2011 Wild Card banner hanging from the upper rafters Tropicana Field -- 468 feet away, according to Statcast™ -- to put Miami on the board.
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took over from Snell to start the sixth, and the Marlins greeted him with seven consecutive hits, including a two-run single by J.T. Realmuto and a two-run double by .
"Probably that he just wasn't quite as sharp," said Rays manager Kevin Cash when asked what was different about Pruitt on Wednesday night. "You could tell from the side that the pitches didn't quite have that crisp late movement to it. He gave up a bunch of consecutive hits. There weren't a ton of balls that were squared up with their hits. We just couldn't quite find that one popup or mis-hit to help him get out of the inning."

More troubles followed for the Rays in the seventh, when rookie made his Major League debut. Realmuto, who had four RBIs in the game, tripled home two to highlight the three-run inning.
"We know we are capable of scoring a lot of runs," said Marlins second baseman , who finished the day 4-for-5 with three runs scored. "The last couple days have been tough for us, but I feel this was a great team win to get our confidence back."

Prior to the bullpen meltdown, the Rays held a 4-2 lead thanks to 's two-run single and a solo homer by rookie projected at 425 feet to center field. The barreled ball had a 22 degree launch angle with a 105.1-mph exit velocity.
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(5 1/3 innings, two earned runs, five strikeouts) picked up the win to move to 2-2 on the season. Snell (five innings, two earned runs, nine strikeouts) received a no-decision, and Pruitt took the loss, his first of the season.
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MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Stanton goes 113.3 mph: The Marlins roughed up Pruitt in their five-run sixth, and Stanton's two-run double proved to be the centerpiece of the inning. With one out in the inning, Stanton ripped a Pruitt offering to left-center field that had a 113.3-mph exit velocity, according to Statcast™. Stanton's hit gave the Marlins a 7-4 lead.

Realmuto's triple: The Rays had just narrowed the Marlins' lead to two runs after ' RBI single in the bottom of the sixth. The Marlins then greeted Alvarado with infield singles before grounded out to first for the first out of the inning. Realmuto then stepped to the plate, fresh from a two-run single in the sixth. This time he powered up, driving the ball to the wall for a triple to give the Marlins a 9-5 lead. Realmuto then scored on 's sacrifice fly to give the Marlins a five-run cushion.

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Ozuna's homer was the second-longest ball hit at Tropicana in the Statcast™ era behind a 471-foot shot by the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez in 2015. The blast extended his streak to 20 consecutive games in which he's had a hit against the Rays, a stretch that includes every game he has played against Tampa Bay.
"He's a good player. There's no doubt he's a good player," Cash said. "I think he's got a little bit of the bad-ball hitter in him, where you can make some good pitches and he can adjust to them. We have not seen him miss too many fastballs or offspeed pitches at all over the last couple of years."

UNDER REVIEW
The Rays challenged a tag play at first base with no outs in the seventh when Suzuki slid into first and was called safe. After review, the call on the field was overturned and Suzuki was called out on the tag by Rickie Weeks Jr.

WHAT'S NEXT
Marlins:Dan Straily (1-2, 4.15 ERA) will make his first appearance against the Rays in the Citrus Series finale at 7:10 p.m. ET on Thursday. In his last outing, Straily allowed three earned runs on four hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings against the Pirates.
Rays: (1-1, 3.86) will start against the Marlins. The right-hander is coming off a seven-inning performance against the Blue Jays on Saturday, which marked his longest start since last May 30 at Kansas City.
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