MIAMI -- Two days after holding a 90-minute team meeting, the Marlins finished off their second sweep of the season in Thursday night’s 7-4 victory over the Nationals at loanDepot park.

Miami has won three in a row for the first time since its seven-game streak to close out April, and it couldn’t come at a better time. Arguably the season-defining 10-game trip begins on Friday in Houston, with subsequent stops at National League East rivals Philadelphia and New York. Manager Don Mattingly said not to look too far ahead after Thursday’s win. Inconsistency has been the theme for his club so far in 2022, but there have been positive signs since the calendar turned to June.

Three position players in particular were crucial to Thursday’s victory and will be moving forward:

Jazz Chisholm Jr.
Team record when he scores multiple runs: 14-3

Chisholm tallied his second career multi-homer game in the opener, but he entered the finale still trying to find his timing (4-for-37) since returning from left hamstring tightness.

The adage goes “speed never slumps,” and what better way to snap out of a funk than by bunting down the line? Chisholm led off the first that way, stole his 10th base and later scored on Jesús Sánchez’s RBI double. In the fifth, Chisholm once again bunted for a hit, becoming the first Marlin to reach twice in that fashion since Dee Strange-Gordon in 2016.

A strong candidate to represent the Marlins at next month’s All-Star Game, Chisholm is the second Major Leaguer in 2022 to collect 10-plus homers and 10-plus stolen bases, and one of eight players in club history to do so in the first half of a season. During Spring Training, he spent time perfecting the art of bunting with Marlins legend Juan Pierre.

Because of his wheels, Chisholm considers reaching base -- even if only at first -- scoring position. He proved it by racing home on Garrett Cooper’s double to left thanks to an elite 30 ft./sec sprint speed.

“For the past week, I've been wanting to, and I haven't put one down,” Chisholm said. “I was just like, ‘Don't be scared to do it.’ I put down one today and I was like, ‘Dang, I might do this every at-bat.’ I found a little something I could add to my game as a weapon and use it to my advantage.”

Jesús Sánchez
Team record when he drives in a run: 23-14

It’s no secret Miami’s right-handed-heavy lineup is more potent when the left-handed-hitting Sánchez is producing. Mattingly called the young slugger a force. After exiting the opener with upper right back tightness and sitting out Wednesday, Sánchez returned for the finale and made an immediate impact.

Sánchez, whose May showers (.513 OPS) have led to June heat (1.159 OPS), had a season-high three RBIs. His two-out double in the first scored Chisholm, and his eighth homer capped a four-run fifth.

Thanks to Sánchez and Jon Berti, the Marlins knocked in five two-out runs for the team’s fifth-highest total of the season. Clutch knocks have come at an inconsistent rate in 2022.

“It feels good to be back, feels great to be back and be able to perform,” Sánchez said via an interpreter. “Now that we're here, we’ve got to hustle and keep going. It's all about the preparation and enjoying the game. If you do that, you go out there, and then things will happen.”

Garrett Cooper
Team runs per game in June: 6.9

There aren’t many hotter hitters in the Majors this month. Cooper has multi-hit efforts in six straight games, the longest streak by a Marlin since Strange-Gordon in 2017 (seven games). This month, he is batting .500 (17-for-34) with four doubles, one homer and eight RBIs.

Though the numbers are slightly skewed by three games at Coors Field and the Nationals’ pitching staff, it’s no coincidence Cooper’s production at the plate has meant an MLB-high 62 runs for the Marlins. That has resulted in a 6-3 record in June, one win shy of Miami’s total from May (7-19).

“He uses the whole field, he's capable of leaving the ballpark in right-center, he's got both gaps,” Mattingly said. “He has a pretty good understanding also of how they pitch him and what they're trying to do to him. … To me, he's another good hitter, and probably more real power than [Jesús Aguilar] on that side of it. Good hitter first, and that's always best.”