The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

An eventful weekend for Jazz Chisholm featured a career milestone, two home runs and one viral moment saw the Miami Marlins infielder become one the slugging percentage leaders in all of Major League Baseball.

Chisholm went 4-6 with a double, a home run, three runs scored, three RBI and two stolen bases in the Marlins’ 9-7 win over the Atlanta Braves Saturday night at Truist Park in Atlanta, Georgia.

It was the first four-hit game of his MLB career.

Chisholm began the night when he homered off Ian Anderson on the very first pitch of the game. He also doubled on a line drive in the fifth and in the sixth, he hit a two RBI single to score Jon Berti and Joey Wendle. He singled in his final at bat and finished a triple shy of the cycle.

Chisholm joined Gary Sheffield (1995) as the only players in Marlins history to have at least eight total bases and two stolen bases in the same game.

Through 12 games, he hit .325 with a .356 on base percentage and slugged a league-leading .800 with four home-runs, three steals, nine runs and 15 RBI headed into yesterday’s season finale against the Braves.

Chisholm’s heroics on Saturday came less than 24 hours after another heavily scrutinised decision by Marlins manager Don Mattingly to remove him from the game.

In Friday night’s game, the Marlins trailed 1-0 with two outs in the seventh inning when Braves manager Brian Snitker brought in left handed reliever, Tyler Matzek, to face Chisholm.

Mattingly countered with right handed Bryan De La Cruz to pinch hit for Chisholm, who was 0-3 with three strikeouts on the night. De La Cruz struck out on three pitches and the Marlins suffered a 3-0 loss. “We just felt like that was the spot,” Mattingly said. “It was the matchup that we liked and took a shot.”

Chisholm has been out of the lineup for two games based on Mattingly’s adjustments to find favourable matchups against left handed pitchers.

He also went viral Thursday night against the St Louis Cardinals with the events that led to his third home-run of the season.

The Marlins took a 5-0 win, but the story that emerged was the interaction between Chisholm, Cardinals players Aaron Brooks (pitcher), Yadier Molina (catcher) and home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi.

After taking a pair of strikes from Brooks, Chisholm called for time and stepped out of the batters’ box.

Cuzzi prompted Chisholm to hurry back into the box while Molina urged Brooks to throw the pitch once Cuzzi called for action to resume, whether Chisholm was ready for it or not.

After Brooks failed to deliver the pitch, Molina then called a time out of his own.

Chisholm swung at the next pitch and sent it over the wall in deep right field for his third home run of the season. “The first pitch, I didn’t really agree with it, but I wasn’t locked in for the second pitch, and I was really upset with myself, because it was a fastball right down the middle, and I knew I missed the pitch, and I haven’t gotten one of those pitches in a minute. So I was really frustrated with myself on the second pitch, but I didn’t swing,” Chisholm told reporters following the game.

“So I was trying to step out and lock back in...He wasn’t giving me it, so I had to try and lock in quick. Thank God Yadi called time out, (so) I could still lock back in — and I got locked back in.”