There was no playing second fiddle for Jazz Chisholm on Sunday.
The fourth-ranked Marlins prospect was front and center as he put together his best performance in The Show with a homer, double, three RBIs and a pair of runs scored to lead his club to a 5-0 blanking of the Yankees in New York.
The victory, coupled with a Cardinals loss, gave Miami the No. 6 seed in the National League playoffs and also the franchise's first winning season (31-29) since 2009.
"Growing up as a kid you always want to play in Yankee Stadium," Chisholm said. "You know one of the biggest teams in baseball history, if not the biggest team in baseball history, so it was really cool to be able to perform like this today."
It was the Bahamian’s second multi-hit effort of the season and the first time he scored more than one run, while the three RBIs doubled his total for the year.
Chisholm opened the scoring by ripping a double off the center-field wall in the second inning. The lefty-hitting speedster turned on a fastball from No. 2 Yankees prospect Clarke Schmidt and drilled it to the deepest part of the park, missing a homer by a few feet. The knock scored Matt Joyce and Jon Berti and put Miami ahead for good.
The 22-year-old bookended the Marlins scoring with a leadoff blast in the eighth. After fouling off three straight pitches from 17th-ranked Yankees prospect Nick Nelson, Chisholm turned around a 97-mph fastball from the right-hander and sent a moonshot over the wall in straightaway center for his second Major League long ball.
"You like a lot of things about Jazz as far as his energy, his fast twitch, what we feel like he's going to be able to do and become," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "And you got to look into that window a little bit today of what you have a chance to get from a guy like that."
Signed by the D-backs out of Nassau in 2015, Chisholm made his professional debut the following year with Rookie Advanced Missoula. In 62 Pioneer League games, he batted .281/.333/.446 with 22 extra-base hits and 42 runs scored. After spending his sophomore season in the Midwest League, Chisholm had a breakout campaign in 2018 as he reached Class A Advanced Visalia and hit .329 with 10 dingers, 27 RBIs and 27 runs scored in 36 California League games. His overall performance in 2018 earned him MiLB.com Organization All-Star honors.
At the 2019 Trade Deadline, Chisholm was dealt to Miami for right-hander Zac Gallen and finished the year with 23 games in the Southern League. He was named a postseason all-star with Double-A Jacksonville.
Chisholm was promoted from the Marlins' alternate camp on Sept. 1.
"Every time I step on the field, it's a wild moment for me," he said. "It doesn't change for me. Every day I'm excited to be out there on a big league field."
Making his first big league start, Schmidt was tagged with the loss after allowing three runs on four hits and a pair of walks while striking out four over four innings. The rigthy made two relief appearances previously and finished with a 7.11 ERA across 6 1/3 frames. Nelson worked the final three innings and yielded a run on two hits and two walks with three punchouts. He had a 1.50 WHIP in 11 appearances this year.
In other action:
Cubs 10, White Sox 8
The Cubs showcased their pitchers of the future on the final day of the regular season. Adbert Alzolay , the club's sixth-ranked prospect, gave up a run on two hits and two walks while striking out eight over five frames to drop his ERA to 2.95. Top Prospect Brailyn Marquez made his Major League debut but was roughed up for five runs on two hits and three walks with one whiff while recording two outs. Third-ranked White Sox prospect Nick Madrigal went 1-for-4 to end the season with a .340 average. No. 24 Codi Heuer struck out the only batter he faced in the seventh and No. 25 Matt Foster worked the final two frames, issuing a pair of walks and striking out one. Box score
Royals 3, Tigers 1
Pitching in relief for the first time in his big league career, Tarik Skubal matched his second-longest outing, but suffered the loss to drop to 1-4. Detroit’s No. 5 prospect allowed two runs on two hits and one walk while striking out six over five innings. Sixth-ranked Isaac Paredes went 0-for-3. Kansas City’s No. 21 prospect Edward Olivares was hitless in three at-bats. Box score
Orioles 7, Blue Jays 5
Fifth-ranked Baltimore prospect Ryan Mountcastle collected a pair of knocks and scored a run. No. 15 Keegan Akin opened the game and yielded four runs on five hits and a walk while whiffing four over three frames. Hunter Harvey, the O's 16th-ranked prospect, earned his fourth hold after retiring both batters he faced. Blue Jays No. 19 prospect Patrick Murphy worked around a hit and a walk to post a pair of scoreless frames with a punchout. The righty allowed one run over four appearances this season. Box score
Indians 8, Pirates 6
James Karinchak , Cleveland’s 17th-ranked prospect, earned his first Major League win after striking out all three batters he faced in the seventh inning. He finished his rookie campaign with a 2.67 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and .159 opponents' batting average over 27 frames. No. 38 overall prospect Ke'Bryan Hayes went 2-for-4 with a homer and a walk to extend his season-ending hitting streak to eight games for the Pirates. The 23-year-old was 16-for-31 over that span and batted .376/.442/.682 on the year. Box score
D-backs 11, Rockies 3
Third-ranked Arizona prospect Daulton Varsho didn’t get into the hit column but drove in a run with a fielder’s choice in the third inning and walked and scored on a double by Carson Kelly in the seventh. No. 28 prospect Pavin Smith entered as a defensive replacement in right field in the ninth. Rockies No. 23 prospect Eddy Diaz went 0-for-4 to drop his average to .235. No. 18 Tommy Doyle recorded one out and was tagged for four runs on a hit and three walks, while 24th-ranked Ashton Goudeau gave up a run on four hits, hit a batter and fanned two in 3 2/3 frames. Box score
Rangers 8, Astros 4
Second-ranked Texas prospect Sam Huff singled, walked, drove in one run and scored another to raise his average to .355, while No. 3 prospect Leody Taveras collected a pair of knocks, two RBIs and scored a run. Seventh-ranked Anderson Tejeda went 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. No. 15 Astros prospect Luis Garcia retired the only batter he faced to close the eighth. Box score
Dodgers 5, Angels 0
Brusdar Graterol pitched a perfect eighth inning, striking out one and inducing two groundouts. The No. 3 Dodgers prospect lowered his ERA to 3.09 in 23 games. No. 20 Victor Gonzalez started and gave up a hit while striking out one in one frame. Top Angels prospect Jo Adell went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, lowering his average to .161. Eighth-ranked Jahmai Jones picked up a pair of singles in three at-bats in his third big league game. Box score
Reds 5, Twins 3
Tejay Antone , Cincinnati’s No. 23 prospect, delivered 1 2/3 innings of perfect relief, striking out three, to lower his ERA to 2.80 in 13 appearances. Sixth-ranked Jose Garcia went 0-for-2 to drop his season average to .194 in 24 games. Twins No. 26 prospect Jorge Alcala gave up a hit while notching two outs in the 10th. Box score
Padres 5, Giants 4
Jorge Mateo entered as a pinch-runner in the fifth inning. San Diego’s No. 10 prospect, who stayed in the game at second base, rapped an RBI double and scored on a double by Wil Myers in the seventh. Sixth-ranked Adrian Morejon got the start and gave up a run on three hits with four strikeouts over 2 2/3 innings. Top Giants prospect Joey Bart walked in four plate appearances as his average dipped to .233. Box score
Cardinals 5, Brewers 2
Top Cardinals prospect Dylan Carlson went hitless in four at-bats. Tyrone Taylor, Milwaukee’s 23rd-ranked prospect, batted for Eric Sogard in the seventh inning and grounded out on the second pitch he saw from southpaw Genesis Cabrera. Box score
Rays 5, Phillies 0
Rays No. 19 prospect Randy Arozarena worked a pair of walks and scored a run, while 28th-ranked Josh Fleming improved to 5-0 after working around four hits and a walk by striking out five over six innings. Phillies No. 14 prospect JoJo Romero retired the only batter he faced for the final out of the eighth. Box score
Athletics 6, Mariners 2
Joey Gerber, Seattle’s 19th-ranked prospect, retired all three batters he faced in the sixth inning, while No. 18 Braden Bishop was hitless in four trips to the plate. Box score
Red Sox 9, Braves 1
Third-ranked Red Sox prospect Bobby Dalbec went 0-for-3 but walked, was hit by a pitch and scored a run in the seventh inning. Bryse Wilson allowed one run on five hits and two walks over three frames in his second start of the season. The fifth-ranked Atlanta prospect struck out two and lowered his ERA to 4.02 in six games. Box score
Rob Terranova is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @RobTnova24.
