MILWAUKEE — The Miami Marlins defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 6-2 on Wednesday to clinch their three-game road series at American Family Field. Sandy Alcantara held the Brewers to two runs while pitching a season-high seven innings with four strikeouts and no walks. Jesus Aguilar hit a three-run home run — his fifth home run in six games — to lead the offense.
But in the interim, the Marlins (11-13) lost one of their most energizing players for at least the next week and a half while also seeing two more starters exit the game with injury.
The Marlins placed rookie infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain prior to their series finale with the Brewers and recalled Isan Diaz to the active roster.
Diaz, who started the season at the alternate training site and joined the team midway through their three-city road trip, started the game at second base, batted seventh and went 0 for 2 with two walks, recorded an RBI when he reached base via obstruction in the second inning and scored on Aguilar’s fourth-inning home run.
Meanwhile, left fielder Corey Dickerson (right groin discomfort) and right fielder/first baseman Garrett Cooper (sore left foot) left Wednesday’s game in the fourth inning. The team is describing them as “day to day.” Magneuris Sierra and Lewis Brinson replaced them in the field.
For those keeping track, that’s six Marlins starters dealing with injuries. center fielder Starling Marte (fractured left rib), third baseman Brian Anderson (left oblique strain) and catcher Jorge Alfaro (left hamstring strain) are all on the injured list, although the team is optimistic Anderson could potentially return when eligible this weekend when they face the Washington Nationals to wrap up their three-city, 10-game trip.
Anderson took ground balls at third base pregame Wednesday in Milwaukee with no issues.
Marlins manager Don Mattingly said Chisholm’s hamstring cramped up when he stole second base in the first inning of Miami’s 5-4 loss on Tuesday, although Mattingly didn’t notice anything major until after Chisholm made his way back to the dugout.
Chisholm led off the game Tuesday with a first-pitch infield single, beating out a throw from a routine ground ball to Brewers shortstop Luis Urias. Chisholm had a sprint speed of 30.1 feet per second on the run to first (30 feet per second is considered elite). He stole second one pitch later, getting under a tag from second baseman Pablo Reyes, and advanced to third on a Miguel Rojas groundout to first base before scoring on a Jesus Aguilar sacrifice fly.
Jose Devers, the Marlins’ No. 8 overall prospect who made his major-league debut Saturday, replaced Chisholm for the final eight innings of Tuesday’s game.
Chisholm was hitting .290 with four home runs, seven RBI and 11 runs scored. His seven stolen bases are the most in the National League and trail just Kansas City’s Whit Merrifield and Oakland’s Ramon Laureano, both of whom has swiped eight bases.
“He ran pretty good from third to home on the sac fly,” Mattingly said. “We didn’t notice a big jump or anything ... but when you say your hamstring tightened up, you’re going to be cautious right away.”
With that, Diaz will now get a look at second base for the immediate future.
He started the season at the alternate training site after struggling during spring training (.059 batting average and 13 strikeouts), but the club still remains optimistic in Diaz, whom they acquired from the Brewers in the Christian Yelich trade in January 2018. In 56 career games, Diaz has just a .174 batting average with five home runs, 24 RBI and 22 runs scored while holding his own defensively.
Diaz played just seven games in 2020. He opted out of the season when the Marlins went through their COVID-19 outbreak, asked for and was granted a return after the Aug. 31 trade deadline and went on the injured list with a groin strain five games after his return.
While Diaz is primarily a second baseman, the Marlins have been giving him occasional reps at third base at the alternate training site. He took groundballs there pregame Tuesday in Milwaukee.
