MIAMI — Wednesday started with a scare for the Miami Marlins, but ended with thrills.
After Jazz Chisholm Jr. exited with a right shoulder stinger in the first inning, the Marlins regrouped to beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-2, behind another gem from Jesus Luzardo and a clutch eighth-inning rally.
For the first time in the young 2023 MLB season, Miami has won consecutive games and it gave the Marlins their first series victory of the year.
It made for a good ending to an up-and-down season-opening homestand in Miami. The Marlins (3-4) lost four of their first five games and have still only scored 12 runs in six games, but they’ve now won two in a row, seem to have a dynamic 1-2 punch atop their starting rotation and might not miss Chisholm for too long, either — a positive development given how much pain he appeared to be in after he collided with Twins infielder Kyle Farmer on a headfirst slide into second base in the first inning. By the end of the game, Skip Schumaker already had a text from Chisholm assuring the manager he’d be back in the lineup Thursday.
Chisholm’s injury quickly brought a pall over the 8,981 at loanDepot park. After only his fourth hit of the season, Chisholm tried his first steal of the year, but mistimed his jump and Minnesota starting pitcher Pablo Lopez nailed him at second base. On the slide, Chisholm bumped his head, neck and left shoulder into Farmer’s right leg, and felt a surge through his right arm. The Bahamian superstar writhed in pain for a few moments and flexed his right hand after he got up. He never returned, replaced by outfielder Bryan De La Cruz in center field for the final eight innings.
“It was the first time I ever experienced anything like that,” said Chisholm, who was not tested for a concussion, but was still feeling some lingering effects from the stinger after the game. “I’m good until I’m not, so I’m going to be on the field until I can’t play on the field anymore.”
A few hours later, De La Cruz delivered the decisive hit. Seven spectacular innings from Luzardo kept the game tied at 1-1 into the eighth inning — a solo home run by outfielder Jorge Soler, just a few minutes after Chisholm got picked off, was all Miami managed against Lopez in the right-handed pitcher’s first start against his former team — and De La Cruz came up with a game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the frame.
Soler followed it up with his second homer of the game — this time, a three-run blast — and the Marlins went up 5-1 to finish off their seven-game homestand with a second straight win.
Although the offense was been sporadic and often virtually nonexistent through the first week of the season, the Marlins’ starting pitching is finally coming around to what Miami expected at the start of the year. On Tuesday, All-Star starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara needed just 100 pitches, and less than two hours, to fire a three-hitter and beat the Twins, and Luzardo was similarly excellent in beating Minnesota (4-2) on Wednesday.
The left-handed pitcher cruised for most of seven innings, allowing just five hits and one walk while striking out 10. He didn’t let a runner into scoring position until the sixth inning and only finally gave up a run in the top of the seventh to the penultimate batter he faced.
Luzardo, 25, now has a 0.71 ERA through two starts, giving up just one run in 13 2/3 innings.
Up next
Miami begins its first road trip of the season when it faces the New York Mets at 1:10 p.m. at Citi Field. It’s Opening Day for the Mets in New York.
It’s a two-city trip for the Marlins, with three games in Queens — with a day off Friday — and then three against the Phillies in Philadelphia, followed by another off day. Miami won’t be back home until April 14.
Starting pitcher Edward Cabrera will make his second start of the season for the Marlins to kick off the road trip, facing Mets pitcher Tylor Megill.
