Late home runs help Miami Marlins finish sweep over Cubs and extend win streak to four
Jazz Chisholm Jr. said he was just trying to get on base, get some momentum going for the offense, hopefully start a rally.
Instead, one Chisholm swing in the sixth inning was enough to give the Miami Marlins a lead for good on Sunday afternoon.
The Marlins’ rookie middle infielder hit a go-ahead home run in the sixth inning and Jesus Aguilar added a two-run home run of his own an inning later to lift the Marlins to a 4-1 win over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday and secure a three-game sweep at loanDepot park.
The Marlins (51-67) won the first two games of the series 14-10 on Friday and 5-4 on Saturday. They have now matched a season high with four consecutive wins and went 5-1 overall in six games against the Cubs this season after winning two of three games at Wrigley Field in June.
The win also, at least temporarily, moved the Marlins out of last place in the National League East. They leapfrogged the Washington Nationals, who have dropped 11 of their last 12 games, to move into fourth place in the division.
“Lately, we’ve really been coming together as a team and playing for each other,” Chisholm said. “I feel like that’s what we need to continue to do.”
With a 3-1 count, Chisholm lifted an 89 mph Alec Mills sinker thrown over the heart of the plate and sent it a projected 435 feet to right-center field. It was Chisholm’s 12th of the season and his first since July 10, breaking a span of 15 games without a homer.
Chisholm has been in and out of the lineup since the All-Star Break. He missed nine games with a shoulder injury sustained in the series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies on July 18 and missed five games over the past two weeks while dealing with an illness. He went back home to Miami in the middle of the Marlins’ last road trip.
But Chisholm’s at-bats overall have been steady. Fourteen of the last 31 balls he has put into play have been hard-hit, defined by Statcast as having an exit velocity of at least 95 mph.
“Jazz just needs to have good at-bats,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “He’s been hitting the ball hard. ... That’s the tough part for the younger guys. They start chasing hits. We were sitting there talking on the bench. You can’t guide it. Keep squaring it up. That’s how you get your hits and that’s how you get hot.”
Aguilar provided the Marlins with a pair of insurance runs with his 22nd home run of the season, a two-run shot to left field off Cubs reliever Jake Jewell in the seventh. The first baseman had three hits on Sunday and now has a National League-leading 84 RBI on the season.
Elieser Hernandez, making his first start since going on the 60-day IL for the second time this season, held the Cubs to one run in 5 1/3 innings. Paul Campbell (2/3 inning), Richard Bleier (2/3 innings), Anthony Bass (1 1/3 innings) and Dylan Floro (1 inning) held the Cubs scoreless for the final 4 2/3 innings.
Floro earned his fifth save of the season after getting out of a two-on, no-outs jam by striking out Andrew Romine and Patrick Wisdom and getting Rafael Ortega to hit into a game-ending groundout.
Next up
The Marlins host the Atlanta Braves for a three-game series beginning Monday to wrap up this six-game homestand.
Braxton Garrett will be on the mound for the Marlins on Monday opposite Touki Toussant. Sandy Alcantara and Husacar Ynoa are the starting pitchers on Tuesday, and Jesus Luzardo will face Charlie Morton in the finale on Wednesday.
This story was originally published August 15, 2021 at 4:31 PM.
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