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Ozuna giving Cardinals a surge of power vs. Rockies

By Bucky Dent, The Sports Xchange
Marcell Ozuna and the St. Lois Cardinals face the Colorado Rockies onTuesday. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
Marcell Ozuna and the St. Lois Cardinals face the Colorado Rockies onTuesday. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo

The guy the St. Louis Cardinals acquired in the offseason to give their offense a power surge may finally be about to provide it.

Left fielder Marcell Ozuna walked the Colorado Rockies off in Monday night's series opener, cracking a one-out solo homer in the bottom of the 10th for a 5-4 win. It was the third straight game in which Ozuna homered, giving him 13 for the year.

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That's still a far cry from the 37 he slugged last year for Miami, but with St. Louis still in contention for a playoff spot, Ozuna's sudden longball streak bodes well. He'll try to continue it Tuesday in game two of the four-game set at Busch Stadium.

"I just stayed on it and took a regular swing," he said to Fox Sports Midwest moments after the first walkoff blast of his career. "I've been working all the time with the hitting coach, looking for success."

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Ozuna snapped a stretch of 35 games without a homer with a first-inning grand slam Saturday against the Chicago Cubs' Jose Quintana, then smacked a two-run shot Sunday night off Kyle Hendricks. Ozuna lined out three times and walked Monday night before drilling a Jake McGee fastball over the wall in left-center.

Cardinals interim manager Mike Shildt isn't surprised that Ozuna is starting to play pepper with the fans in the bleachers.

"It's going in a good direction," Shildt said. "He's a talented guy who's getting consistency and good at-bats. He's getting a good pitch to hit and letting his strength play."

Ozuna's game-winning clout upped St. Louis to 54-52, allowing it to cap a comeback from a 4-0 fifth-inning deficit on a night where it probably lost starter Carlos Martinez to the disabled list for the third time this year.

Martinez fanned nine over 4 2/3 innings before leaving with a mild right shoulder strain. Shildt said after the game that Martinez would probably miss multiple starts but was hopeful the injury wouldn't be worse.

The Cardinals bullpen had to cover 5 1/3 innings following Martinez's departure, and if recent history means anything, might have to work hard again Tuesday night. Starter Jack Flaherty (4-5, 3.28) has lasted past five innings just three times in his last 10 starts.

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Flaherty was tagged with a 7-3 loss Wednesday in Cincinnati despite fanning eight over five innings, allowing three runs off four hits and two walks. He'll make his first career appearance against Colorado.

Jon Gray (8-7, 5.16) will take the mound for the Rockies (57-48), hoping to build on the success of his first two starts since a brief demotion to Triple-A. After stifling Seattle on a run in 7 1/3 innings on July 14, Gray then permitted only one hit and one earned run over seven innings Wednesday against Houston, although he settled for a no-decision in Colorado's 3-2 win.

"We used the curveball tonight and it was a really good tool to get them off the fastball," Gray said to MLB.com about his outing against the Astros.

Gray has been battered for 11 runs over 8 1/3 innings in two career starts against the Cardinals, losing his only decision.

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