Chisholm, Marlins drop game one to the Braves

Playing on a neutral field at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, the Miami Marlins came out aggressively and gave Sandy Alcántara some early run support against the Atlanta Braves, but they couldn’t hold off a late offensive surge by the Braves and fell 9-5 in their opening game of their National League Division Series (NLDS).

Bahamian Jasrado “Jazz” Chisholm was once again relegated to the bench and watched as his team blew a 4-1 lead, dropping their first game of the 2020 Major League Baseball (MLB) playoffs.

Chisholm has been a spark plug, particularly defensively, in the second half of the Marlins’ season, but is yet to see action in the postseason. However, with games in the second round of the playoffs being held every day, and with the Marlins looking for answers, it’s likely that Chisholm will get his first taste of playoff action over the next few days.

Their bullpen struggled yesterday, blowing a late 4-1 lead against the Braves. Highlighted by a Travis d’Arnaud three-run shot, the heavily favored Braves erupted for six runs in the bottom of the seventh inning yesterday and never looked back. Two batters earlier, Marlins starter Alcántara was pulled for Yimi García who struggled against the heart of the Braves’ lineup. García gave up an RBI single to Marcell Ozuna, d’Arnaud’s three-run home run and another single to Ozzie Albies before being pulled.

The Marlins fell behind 7-4 at the end of the seventh and couldn’t recover.

They are already fighting an uphill battle, taking on the Braves without arguably their best player in the lineup, Starling Marte. Marte suffered a bruised left ear after being hit by a 94-miles-per-hour (mph) fastball from New York Yankees reliever Clarke Schmidt in their final regular season game two Sundays ago. They also lost right-handed pitcher José Ureña in that same game as he was hit on the right arm by a liner from Yankees lead-off batter DJ LeMahieu’s and suffered a fractured forearm.

Seeded sixth, the Marlins weathered the storm and upset the third-seeded Chicago Cubs in their National League Wild Card Seri last week. They swept that series two games to none and now face a greater challenge with the second seeded Braves.

The Braves won the National League East Division title during this COVID-19 60-game shortened season with a 35-25 win-loss record while the Marlins were second at 31-29 – their first winning season since 2009. The Braves also won the season series six games to four over the Marlins.

Chisholm had a stretch where he was hitless in 19 at-bats but ended the season with a 2-for-4 performance against the Yankees in their season finale in which he had a two-run double and a solo home run. For the season, the 22-year-old Bahamian batted .161 with two home runs and six RBIs.

Defensively, Chisholm had 25 putouts, 43 assists, an error and was a part of 13 double plays. He had a fielding percentage of 1.000 at second base and .962 at shortstop. Chisholm started 11 games at second base this season and six at shortstop.

The Marlins will take on their division rival, the Braves, in game two of their NLDS at 2:08 p.m. in Houston, Texas, today. The Marlins are yet to lose a postseason series in their 28-year history – a perfect 7-0 with two World Series titles. They will set Pablo López to the mound today, and will start rookie right-hander Sixto Sánchez in game three on Thursday.

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