Another strong weekend for ‘Jazz’

Jasrado “Jazz” Chisholm had his third consecutive strong weekend for the Miami Marlins, connecting for five hits in the weekend series against fellow Bahamian Antoan Richardson and the San Francisco Giants, including another home run, helping the Marlins to win the series two games to one.

They lost 1-0 yesterday, but prevailed 4-1 on Friday and 7-6 in extra innings on Saturday, as the Marlins wrapped up their three-game set with the Giants at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida. The 23-year-old Bahamian baseball star was pivotal in both wins, and remained torrid at the plate in the loss.

On Friday, he finished 2-for-3 at the plate with a solo home run, an RBI and a run scored. On Saturday, he was spectacular, going 2-for-3 again, and added two walks and two runs scored including the game-winning run in the bottom of the 10th. On Sunday, Chisholm finished with a single in three at-bats, raising his team’s leading batting average to .325 – the highest it’s ever been.

The electrifying Chisholm, arguably the Marlins’ hottest hitter, has hit safely in seven straight games for the Marlins and is batting .435 over that span (10-for-23). He is on a tear, and the Marlins have followed his lead, winning five of their last seven.

In addition to batting average, Chisholm leads the Marlins in bases on balls (nine), on-base percentage (OBP) – .451, slugging percentage (SLG) – .675 and on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) – 1.126. He is tied for the team lead in stolen bases (three), tied for second in runs scored (eight), second in home runs (three), fifth in hits with 13 and fifth in RBIs (runs batted in) with six.

For the season, he is batting .325 (13-for-40) with three home runs and six RBIs.

Chisholm is top 10 in the majors in OBP, SLG, OPS and stolen bases, turning into one of baseball’s finest young stars.

Chisholm said before the weekend series that he is out there just having fun and trying to help his ball club win games.

“I’m a part of this group that loves to go out there and have fun. We’re going to let our presence be felt,” he said on the Ringer Podcast Network with former Cy Young Award winner CC Sabathia and radio sportscaster Ryan Ruocco. “This game is fun. Kids have to love the game in order to keep wanting to play. This is a sport that everyone could have fun playing. You can’t just go out there and play this game – you have to go out there and love this game. I want them to see that I’m playing this game with a passion. I love this game.”

On Friday, Chisholm roped an 86 miles per hour (mph) slider off Giants’ starting pitcher Anthony DeSclafani over the right field fence to tie the opener with the Giants at one, giving the youngster his third home run of the year. He had two all of last year. Starling Marte’s go-ahead three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth gave the Marlins a 4-1 lead and they held on for the win in the opening game of the series.

The following day, Chisholm had another strong outing at the plate, connecting for two singles and getting on base four times. After drawing a walk in the bottom of the 10th, he came around to score the winning run on a walk-off double from Marlins’ catcher Jorge Alfaro, showing off his speed as he scored all the way from first base. Chisholm scored in the ninth as well, coming home on an RBI single from Alfaro. The Marlins scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game at five, and then twice more in the bottom of the 10th after the Giants had pulled ahead with a run in the top half of that frame, winning a thrilling game, 7-6.

On Sunday, Chisholm had another eventful day, drilling a key hit to left field in the bottom of the fifth, but was called out when his knee raised off the bag at second base slightly while the tag was being applied. Brian Anderson scooted over to third on the play, but was left stranded when Chad Wallach grounded out to second base to end the inning. Chisholm’s out at second base was the second out of the inning.

Later on in the game, he committed his second error of the season, bobbling a ground ball that had a high bounce. In the field, Chisholm now has 15 putouts, 38 assists and just two errors in 55 total chances at second base and shortstop combined. He has been a part of 10 double plays.

In the weekend series, Chisholm batted sixth and started at second on Friday and Saturday and batted seventh and started at second on Sunday.

He helped the Marlins improve to a 7-8 win/loss record, two games behind the front – running New York Mets (7-4) in the National League East Division. The Philadelphia Phillies are second in that division at 8-7 and the Marlins are third.

The series marked the first time that two Bahamians have met on opposite sides of the field in a Major League Baseball (MLB) game, as Richardson is a first base coach with the Giants. With the two losses in the series, the Giants dropped to 9-6, second in the National League West Division behind the red-hot Los Angeles Dodgers (13-3).

“I think it was a really fun and emotional weekend,” said Richardson. “I’m just really proud to see ‘Jazz’ come into his own. It just continued to get emotional for me, to think of what we have fought for, for the possibility of something like this happening. To be able to experience it in person is really, really special. I’m just grateful to be a part of it. It leaves me really excited about the future, just looking for other guys to get this opportunity. It’s really cool and I’m just glad I got to be a part of it.”

Richardson was the sixth Bahamian to play in the majors, breaking through with the Atlanta Braves in 2011, and Chisholm was the seventh, coming up with the Marlins last year. They are the only two living major leaguers from The Bahamas.

The Marlins have a day off today before welcoming the Baltimore Orioles for a mini two-game series on Tuesday and Wednesday. They will then travel to the Bay Area to play the Giants at Oracle Park in a four-game series over the weekend. Richardson and the Giants travel to Philadelphia to play the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park in a three-game series starting today before heading home to welcome Chisholm and the Marlins.

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