Bour shows value with 4th HR in past 4 games

CHICAGO -- Another day, another Justin Bour blast.

For the fourth straight game, Bour belted a home run, which not only matched a Marlins record. The latest drive, a laser off Jason Hammel in the sixth inning on Friday, lifted Miami to a 2-1 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

It wasn't the deepest shot in his stretch, but it certainly was significant. Statcast™ projected the ball traveled 362 feet from home plate, with an exit velocity of 99 mph.

The home run held up and the Marlins have now won four straight, with three consecutive one-run decisions. Bour was part of the difference in all of them. On Thursday against the Giants, his three-run shot in the fifth inning put Miami in front for good. And on Wednesday night, he delivered a three-run walk-off homer in the ninth to beat San Francisco.

Video: SF@MIA: Bour walks off with a three-run homer

"It just feels good to win," Bour said in his modest postgame interview.

Eight times in club history a player homered in four straight games, the most recent being Marcell Ozuna (Sept. 8-11, 2014).

If Bour was inwardly elated to help beat the organization he broke in with, he certainly didn't show it.

The Marlins acquired Bour in the Triple-A Phase of the 2013 Rule 5 Draft. He was obtained for $12,500, which has become one of the organization's biggest bargains in years.

"It doesn't happen often," Miami manager Dan Jennings said of Minor League Rule 5 picks making big league impacts.

Bour was moving through the Cubs system with players such as reliever Justin Grimm, who pitched on Friday.

"It just goes to show you, if you play hard, and you play the right way, there is going to be a team out there that wants you," Bour said. "I have nothing but positives to say about the Cubs, and the organization. Those guys were really good to me over there. I wish nothing but the best for those guys over there. It's just another game."

With Giancarlo Stanton out for about a month with a broken left hand, the Marlins are seeking middle-of-the-order power. Bour is providing it. He now has 10 homers, second on the club to Stanton's 27.

Jennings credits the Marlins' personnel department, including director of baseball operations Dan Noffsinger, director of player development Brian Chattin and assistant Minor League hitting coordinator Andy Barkett, formerly the Double-A Jacksonville manager, for recognizing Bour's talents.

"Those are the guys who put the reports in and truly believed in this guy's bat," Jennings said. "We're getting the benefits of the fact he is a pure hitter with power."