Bahamian professional baseball player with the Miami Marlins Jasrado 'Jazz' Chisholm Jr. played a pivotal role in his team's 6-4 victory over the Washington Nationals, on Sunday, completing a four-game sweep and going into their day off on Monday, in a three-way tie for the final wild card playoff spot in the National League of Major League Baseball (MLB).
Chisholm hit a grounder to the right side of the infield in the top of the ninth inning of a tied game on Sunday, and his speed forced an errant throw at first as the Marlins were able to avoid an inning ending double play. Luis Arráez, who leads the majors in hitting, scored the go-ahead run for the Marlins, giving them a 5-4 lead. After a stolen base by Chisholm, his 18th of the season, he came around to score a huge insurance run on a single from Bryan De La Cruz, to give the Marlins a 6-4 lead. De La Cruz was out at second on trying to extend the hit into a double, but the damage had already been done.
Tanner Scott replaced Sandy Alcantara, who had gone eight innings for the Marlins, and got into a l'il bit of trouble before closing the door on the Nationals. He struck out Lane Thomas swinging to end the game.
Batting in the clean-up spot, Chisholm finished the day with a hit in five at-bats and scored two runs. He batted .316 for the series, going 6-for-19 with a home run, five RBIs (runs batted in) and five runs scored. Chisholm is up to .249 for the season with 14 home runs, 36 RBIs and 37 runs scored. The Marlins (70-67) are tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants, both with identical 70-67 win/loss records, for the final wild card playoff spot in the National League.
It doesn't get any easier for the Marlins though. They still have series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies - three of which are division leaders, and the other, the Phillies, lead the wild card standings in the National League. The Marlins will host the Dodgers in a three-game set at loanDepot Park in Miami, Florida, this week, before traveling to Philadelphia to play the Phillies on the weekend.
As for the game yesterday, the Marlins went up 3-0 early as Arráez hit a leadoff home run and Chisholm lifted a ground rule double in the top of the first. The Nationals got one of those runs back in the bottom of the first and went ahead with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. The Marlins pulled even at four-a-half inning later, and some late game heroics gave them the much needed win.
Alcantara picked up the win for the Marlins and Scott recorded the save.
The playoff race in the National League remains tight as six teams are separated by just five and a half games in the standings. Those six teams are battling for three playoff spots, and the Marlins are right in the mix, looking to advance to the postseason for the second time in four years, following up on their appearance in the bubble in 2020. It would also be just the fourth time in the playoffs in their 31-year existence.
Their four-game sweep of the Nationals came a weekend after losing two of three to them.
With just 25 games remaining, the Marlins are looking to finish strong and cement their ticket to the postseason.
If they are successful in advancing to the playoffs this season, it would be just the fourth time in the franchise's 31-year history. On two of those trips, they went all the way and won the World Series - in 1997 over the Cleveland Indians and 2003 over the New York Yankees.
Both were in wild card seasons, and the Marlins are hoping that history repeats itself this year.
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