Yanks’ Chisholm hits respond button in Game 2 win over Red Sox

The metamorphosis of Jazz Chisholm Jr. from spurned superstar to the Yankees’ season savior actually did happen overnight, thanks to a therapeutic session of playing MLB The Show and mercy-ruling his on-line competitors into the wee hours Wednesday morning.

Turns out, it took a while for Chisholm to get over his Game 1 benching, as one might suspect after he conducted a mumbling interview at his locker with his back turned to the media following the Yankees’ 3-1 loss in Tuesday’s Wild Card Series opener. The real question, however, didn’t come until the next night, when everyone wondered how the frustrated Chisholm would respond in the Yankees’ do-or-die Game 2.

The answer? Chisholm was a one-man cheat code.

With nothing less than the season at stake, Chisholm made a diving defensive gem that prevented the Red Sox from scoring the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, then later hustled around from first base on Austin Wells’ two-out single to deliver the winning run in eighth, giving the Yankees a 4-3 victory before a re-energized sellout crowd of 47,993 in the Bronx.

“He loves to play,” said manager Aaron Boone, who acknowledged Chisholm’s disappointment over not starting in Game 1. “He feels a responsibility to us, his teammates. And he and I have always been good, despite what you may think happened [Tuesday]. He’s a gamer, and you know, he likes the stage.”

Chisholm is definitely a gamer — admittedly both on and off the field. After Boone sat him Tuesday against Red Sox ace lefty Garrett Crochet, Chisholm went home, grabbed some living-room couch time and took on the world in MLB The Show using his hand-picked team, the New York Aliens (we didn’t ask about the name).

The Aliens are a loaded team, not unlike his $320 million Yankees, and Chisholm — who plays under his own name — smacked around his on-line opposition until about 3 a.m. Then he was fine again, and made sure to emphasize Wednesday night that his relationship with Boone was perfectly good, too.

“There was never a problem between me and Aaron Boone,” Chisholm said. “I’ve stood behind him all year. We always have disagreements. I mean, I played third base this year, we had a little bit of disagreement with that. But at the end of the day, I always stand with Boonie, because he always understands where I come from. He knows I’m a passionate player. I wear my feelings on my sleeve and he knows that I’m there to compete.”

Problem was, Boone did the Red Sox a favor by sitting his All-Star second baseman for Tuesday’s series opener. But now that Chisholm has spurred the Yankees to even the series, forcing a winner-take-all Game 3 for Thursday night, he’s feeling confident again, sounding like the same guy who predicted they’d make a serious run at the AL East title (falling a game short).

After Chisholm left the media room, he stayed in the hallway outside the Yankees’ clubhouse to chat with a handful of reporters, a 180 change from his mood the previous night. When asked if he had any more predictions, say for Game 3, Chisholm broke into a big smile, but stopped himself just short of going the Joe Namath-Mark Messier-Patrick Ewing route.

“I believe in my teammates, that we’re going to win,” Chisholm said. “I believe that. But you don’t know baseball — baseball is gonna be baseball. But at the end of the day, I believe my team is gonna win.”

Not exactly a guarantee. Chisholm — or any Yankee — would be foolish to believe otherwise. And with flame-throwing rookie Cam Schlittler starting against his hometown team in Game 3, the Yankees are in a better spot than the Red Sox, who will be piecing together their pitching plans behind rookie lefthander Connelly Early.

Yes, Boone confirmed, Chisholm will be in Thursday’s lineup against Early (you never know with these over-analytic Yankees). And that’s more bad news for the Red Sox, who were basically done in by Chisholm’s heroics in Game 2. It began with Chisholm starting a spectacular inning-ending double play in the third, but that was only the appetizer for his night.

In the seventh, with the score tied at 3, pinch-hitter Masataka Yoshida slapped a grounder that seemed destined for centerfield, a sure single that would drive in Nate Eaton from second base. But Chisholm somehow snared the bouncer in the web of his glove as he dived up the middle, halting Eaton at third, even after he tried a desperate throw to Ben Rice at first base.

“It’s a 3-2 count, the runners are moving,” Chisholm said. “You see a ground ball, you got to stop it. You have to keep it in the infield.”

An inning later, Chisholm supplied the game-winner himself, sprinting those 270 feet as Wells’ single pinballed off the side wall down the rightfield line. His headfirst slide beat the sweep tag at the plate by maybe a few inches. No other Yankee probably scores in that situation, and by then it was apparent that Chisholm had shed Tuesday night’s baggage.

“What do you expect? He’s a game-changer,” Aaron Judge said. “It just shows you the maturity of not taking what happened the day before and bringing it into today’s game. He showed up ready to play today and ended up having the biggest plays for us.”

Consider that late-night MLB The Show session a practice run. Chisholm was even better in real life.

David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball’s Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.