Marcell Ozuna hit a 415-foot single because he stood and watched the baseball instead of running

A bench-worthy effort.

Baseball is one of the few sports out there that has different dimensions at every stadium. A home run at 20 Major League ballparks could still stay in the yard at 10 others. It’s a wild feature of the game that players really have to keep in mind.

Marcell Ozuna didn’t do that on Sunday, and it backfired in a big way.

With the Braves designated hitter up in the fourth inning against Diamondbacks ace Zac Gallen, Ozuna thought he gave the Braves the lead on what would have been back-to-back home runs. He crushed the ball to straight away center field, but Chase Field has a notoriously deep (and tall) center-field wall. There are very few no-doubt shots to straightaway center field at that stadium.

Ozuna should’ve known that.

That ball was in the air for nearly seven seconds and traveled 415 feet, but Ozuna was held to a single because he stood at home plate and watched the ball travel to the wall before deciding to run.

It would have been a home run at 23 ballparks, but when you’re an away player, it’s probably best to run out fly balls at an unfamiliar stadium.

Ozuna would advance to second on a wild pitch, but he theoretically could have been at third base and in position to score. He’d get stranded at third later on, so it was a costly mistake. No wonder MLB fans did not appreciate the effort.

Update: Ozuna was benched for the blunder and replaced by Sean Murphy in the sixth inning.

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