Well-adjusted Jazz Chisholm Jr. shines as Yankees tee off on Astros

(Tim Warner/Getty Images North America/TNS)

HOUSTON — Jazz Chisholm Jr. continued to show signs of life in Space City on Friday, tallying four RBI in the New York Yankees’ 12-4, series-opening win over the Houston Astros.

The second baseman’s performance included his second home run of the season, as well as his second in as many days. That came in the fourth inning when Chisholm pulled a changeup from Lance McCullers Jr. for a bases-empty blast. Ripped at 106.5 mph, the laser landed 393 feet away less than five seconds later.

Chisholm, no stranger to the long ball despite his early-season power outage, immediately admired the blast.

Chisholm, who finished the game 3 for 4, picked up his first ribbies in the opening frame, lining a two-run single off the right-handed McCullers. Another RBI followed in the seventh when Chisholm knocked one off the left-handed Colton Gordon.

While Chisholm is only hitting .213 with a .637 OPS, Friday marked his second productive day in a row. On Thursday, he went 2 for 4 in the Yankees’ 4-2 win over the Boston Red Sox. By hooking a solo shot around the Pesky Pole, the lefty swinger finally hit his first dinger of the year off Boston southpaw Payton Tolle.

Chisholm also had a 101.1-mph single off Danny Coulombe and a 103.8-mph groundout off Tyler Samaniego in that game. With those pitchers also throwing with their left arms, Aaron Boone said that Thursday was “probably [Chisholm’s] best group of at-bats” this season.

The timing of Chisholm’s sudden production isn’t a coincidence, as he said that he made a few adjustments in the batter’s box on Thursday. Among them: he backed off the plate and closed his stance a bit.