MIAMI — Miami is turning into a Jazz town.
At least, that’s what it felt like every time Jazz Chisholm Jr. came to the plate in the Miami Marlins’ 4-1 win against the San Francisco Giants on Friday.
The Marlins were back at loanDepot park for the first time in more than a week and Chisholm spent the latter part of Miami’s road trip transforming into a budding star. He came back to South Florida with a four-game hitting streak, two home runs and a fast-rising profile for the streaking Marlins, so the crowd of 5,734 was primed for thrilling moments anytime he came to the plate in the opener of a five-game homestand.
In the fifth inning, he delivered. The middle infielder belted a game-tying home run in his second at-bat to set up Miami (6-7) for a come-from-behind victory against to open up a three-game series against the surprising Giants.
Staring pitcher Daniel Castano fired five strong innings in his 2021 debut, the Marlins bullpen blanked San Francisco (8-5) for four innings and outfielder Starling Marte finally gave Miami the victory with a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth.
The Marlins have now won 4 of 5 since their 1-6 start.
Chisholm finished 2 of 3 with the home run and an infield single, extending his hitting streak to five games and continuing an early-season tear for the breakout star.
In the second inning, Chisholm hit a grounder the opposite way against the shift and Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford couldn’t field it cleanly. The infielder beat the throw to give Miami its first baserunner. It was initially deemed an error before the official scorekeeper changed it to an infield single a few innings later.
By the time Chisholm came to the plate for the second time, the Marlins were trailing 1-0 after an RBI single by Evan Longoria in the fourth and they had yet to put a single runner in scoring position.
Chisholm led off the frame against Anthony DeSclafani and saw the full package from the San Francisco starting pitcher. He laid off three off-speed pitches outside the strike zone and fouled off three fastballs. DeSclafani couldn’t get the rookie to chase his breaking balls and he couldn’t beat him with speed. On the seventh pitch of the at-bat, the starter went back to his slider and it barely moved, hanging over the heart of the plate at 86 mph. Chisholm pounced on the mistake and rocketed it 373 feet over the right-field fence to tie the game at 1-1.
The homer was Chisholm’s third of the season, with all three coming during his five-game hitting streak. In his last five games, Chisholm is 7 of 17 with three homers, two doubles and two walks, and the Marlins are 4-1.
