LOS ANGELES -- Before Luis Arraez joined the Marlins, Jazz Chisholm Jr. regularly hit leadoff for the ballclub. The dust has settled since Miami dealt Arraez to San Diego, and Chisholm once again finds himself atop the order.

For the second consecutive game, Chisholm set the tone to manufacture early runs, but the Marlins couldn’t keep pace with the high-powered Dodgers in Monday night’s 6-3 loss at Dodger Stadium.

Chisholm opened the game with an infield hit, then capitalized on righty Walker Buehler’s high leg kick to steal second and get into scoring position. Bryan De La Cruz drove him in with an RBI single, and Jesús Sánchez collected a two-out RBI single later in the frame to make it a 2-0 ballgame.

“I feel like I approach it a little bit differently,” said Chisholm, who tacked on a double in the second. “When I'm in the leadoff spot, I'm a little bit more aggressive trying to just get the game rolling and get it playing and getting us off with a bang. I feel like when I'm in the four-hole or three-hole, I'm more passive because I want to get the right pitch and do this and help my team, because that's what three- and four-hole guys are. They're supposed to be the guys that can hit and see everything and do it the right way.”

Since the Arraez trade was made official, Chisholm has hit leadoff in all three games. After going hitless in two at-bats in Saturday’s lopsided 20-4 loss, he started Sunday’s 12-3 victory with a walk, steals of second and third base and a run scored on an RBI groundout in a four-run frame.

Chisholm entered the series opener with a career .735 OPS in 134 games as the leadoff batter -- most of any spot in the order. After posting an .835 OPS during a 2022 All-Star but injury-shortened campaign, he made way for Arraez both at second base and at leadoff in ‘23. In 135 games where Chisholm has led off, the Marlins have averaged 4.30 runs. In 187 games where he has not, they've averaged 3.73 runs.

The 26-year-old Chisholm, who ranks in the 84th percentile for sprint speed and has four bolts this season, is a dynamic player that can show off his skillset from the top of the order. Though Chisholm always has the green light on the basepaths no matter where he is in the lineup, there is a time and a place depending on number of outs or people on base.

According to manager Skip Schumaker, Chisholm will continue to hit leadoff against right-handed starters but will move further down in the order vs. southpaws.

“I think he's comfortable in that position,” Schumaker said. “He likes leading off, he likes being the guy to set the tone, and he's been doing a good job ever since we put him up there. I think Jazz is a really good leadoff hitter. We had the best leadoff hitter [in Arraez], in my opinion. He was traded. So now, we put Jazz up there who loves to hit leadoff, and I think that's a really good option.”

While Chisholm helped Miami take an early lead, the club mustered just one more run on Nick Gordon’s homer in the third, as he went deep in consecutive games for the second time in his career (May 2-3, 2023).

Right-hander Roddery Muñoz couldn’t contain MLB’s highest-scoring offense -- something he admitted made him nervous. He surrendered six runs, including four homers, in 4 2/3 innings. Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman went back-to-back in the first, James Outman added a two-run tater in the second and Teoscar Hernández lofted a solo shot in the third.

The 24-year-old Muñoz entered the series opener with a 2.45 ERA and a .132 average against in two starts to open his MLB career. He had allowed just three walks and two homers through his first 11 innings. The Dodgers walked and went deep thrice the first time through the order.

After successful rehab starts from left-handers Jesús Luzardo and Braxton Garrett over the past two days, the Marlins may activate them from the injured list later in the week. If that’s the case, Muñoz is a possibility to be optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville.

“There's good days, there's bad days,” Muñoz said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “Most important is that you go out there, you compete, and you do the best for your teammates and for your team. So there's some struggle times, but you've got to continue to hold your head up high and continue battling on the field.”