Ozuna's Streaks Snapped In Loss To Pirates
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MIAMI (AP) — Marcell Ozuna has been the Marlins' hottest hitter of late, but even he could not get anything going against Jeff Locke.
Ozuna had his 11-game hitting streak and 36-game on-base streak snapped with an 0-for-3 night as Locke tossed a three-hitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 10-0 victory over Miami.
"The streak consisted of good at-bats," Ozuna said. "I was looking for the hole but the ball didn't find it. Hopefully we can start another one."
It was the Marlins' third loss in the last four games and they are 5-8 in their last 13.
"You've got to keep going," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "As a staff we have to keep that mentality of keep going. We've got guys that have gone through it and they're not going anywhere. We just have to be ready tomorrow."
Locke had a feeling early in the game he had a chance to do something special.
"Surprisingly it was in the fourth inning because I can see the pitches and said, 'Well geez, if things go really well for the next hour and a half we can line up a pretty good game,'" Locke said.
Locke (4-3) struck out one and did not walk a batter while throwing 67 of 105 pitches for strikes. It was the first complete game by a Pirate since Vance Worley on July 28, 2014.
"Fantastic to go through that lineup as efficiently as he did with no walks and one strikeout getting them to swing, the mis-hits, and we threw some leather out there behind him, which was fantastic as well," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "I'm just proud of him. He continues to work hard and this is the culmination of some hard work."
It was his first complete game in 101 career starts.
"It wasn't like anything I had been a part of," Locke said. "It was pretty special. One hundred and one starts into this thing and I finally get to go a complete game. Very special."
Locke retired 19 straight at one point and needed just six pitches to get through the seventh inning.
"Obviously, he throttled us pretty good," Mattingly said. "He's a guy not real complicated, but he doesn't play around in the middle (of the plate) too often. He's on edges. It seemed kind of he had us where he wanted to tonight."
Gregory Polanco's grand slam, Sean Rodriguez's two-run homer, and David Freese's four hits helped power the offense for the Pirates, who won the first of a four-game series in Miami. The first two games were originally scheduled to be played in Puerto Rico, but were moved due to concerns of the Zika virus.
The announced crowd of 10,856 was a season-low for the Marlins, who entered the day averaging just under 20,000.
Marlins starter Justin Nicolino (2-3) allowed three runs and six hits in five innings.
Nicolino left in the sixth after giving up a leadoff single to Andrew McCutchen with the Marlins trailing 2-0. Jose Urena relieved Nicolino and eventually loaded the bases for Polanco, who deposited a 2-1 change-up into the seats in right-center field for a 7-0 lead.
It was Polanco's first career grand slam and his eighth home run of the season. He has hit in eight straight games with three home runs and 12 RBIs during the stretch.
Jung Ho Kang and Freese had RBI singles to start the scoring for the Pirates.
Two of the Marlins' three hits were erased by double plays.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Marlins: RF Giancarlo Stanton (right side soreness) missed his sixth consecutive game, but could return Tuesday. . 2B Derek Dietrich entered the game in the fourth inning after being struck in the head by a foul ball while in the dugout during Sunday's game. Dietrich replaced Miguel Rojas who appeared to hurt himself during his at-bat in the third. "He got a little stinger on that swing," Mattingly said. "They're calling it shoulder irritation right now, minor. They think he's going to be OK. Obviously, we'll know more if something happened overnight."
UP NEXT
Pirates will send RHP Gerrit Cole (5-3, 2.53 ERA) to the mound Tuesday. Cole is 3-0 with a 1.04 ERA in his last four starts.
Marlins will counter with RHP Jose Fernandez (7-2, 2.82). Fernandez is 21-1 with a 1.64 ERA in 31 career starts at Marlins Park.
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