Ozuna's clutch big fly not enough as Braves bullpen falters

PHOENIX -- Those who understood the unavoidable cruelty a long baseball season can create were prepared for what happened to the Braves in their 7-5 loss to the D-backs on Wednesday night at Chase Field.

Another productive evening for a previously-slumbering offense was tarnished by the struggles of what has been a rock-solid bullpen. Marcell Ozuna took another step toward a second straight 40-homer season with a game-tying blast in the eighth, but relievers Joe Jiménez and Pierce Johnson both proved to be mortal.

“Those guys have been so rock solid,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It’s going to happen. [The D-backs] are really good. So, you turn the page hopefully you get a lead tomorrow and get them back in there.”

Ozuna has been the team’s only consistent offensive threat throughout the season, but as Jarred Kelenic and Austin Riley have started to help carry the load, the Braves’ underachieving offense has found life.

Atlanta has scored five-plus runs in each of the past six games. This wasn’t out of the ordinary last year, when they had four streaks of at least six games, including one that spanned 10 games. But this marked their first six-game streak since the one they produced April 14-20.

Unfortunately, this latest productive night at the plate coincided with Johnson allowing a run for just the second time in the 14 appearances he’s made going back to May 31. This also marked the second time he allowed multiple hits in an appearance during that span.

Johnson entered with a runner on first and two outs in the seventh and promptly allowed a double to Eugenio Suárez, who had drilled a long homer off Charlie Morton in the second inning. Jose Herrera added a two-out single off Johnson to give the D-backs a 5-3 lead.

Ozuna’s two-run homer in the eighth tied the game. But the D-backs tallied two hits, drew a walk and scored two runs off Jiménez in the bottom half of the inning.

Jiménez entered having allowed just two hits while keeping opponents scoreless over his past nine innings. He had allowed just two runs over his past 17 innings. But this wasn’t his night.

“It’s going to happen,” Morton said. “It’s hard to be as good as they have been.”

The same can be said of Ozuna, who tied the game with a Statcast-projected 441-foot blast against Ryan Thompson. He ranks fourth in the Majors with 24 homers and third with 75 RBIs. His .942 OPS ranks ninth.

Ozuna, who will participate in Monday’s Home Run Derby, is on pace to hit 42 homers. He has a chance to join Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Andruw Jones and Ronald Acuña Jr. as the only players to construct multiple 40-homer seasons for the Braves. Jones (2005-06) is the most recent to hit 40-plus home runs in consecutive seasons.

“It’s been unbelievable,” Snitker said. “It’s just big hits. He’s coming through in the clutch always. It’s pretty remarkable what he has done.”

Ozuna’s production this year earned him his third career All-Star selection and first since 2017. It looked like he might be nearing the end of his career as his struggles from 2021 and ‘22 carried through the first month of last season. But he has since been one of the game’s best players.

Going back to May 1, 2023, Ozuna ranks third among all MLB players with 62 home runs. The only players with more are Shohei Ohtani (63) and Aaron Judge (63).

He leads all MLB players with 173 RBIs during that same span, while his .957 OPS ranks seventh.

“I think it’s awesome,” Morton said. “I’ve known he was a really good hitter. I’m really happy for him. The way he has hit the ball for over a year now has been impressive.”