Alcantara goes nine but gets no reward for effort
Sandy Alcantara threw yet another gem on Wednesday as he continues to build his case to not only be an All-Star but to warrant discussion for the National League Cy Young Award.
The Marlins’ ace held the Nationals off the scoreboard for nine innings, scattering just six hits and striking out six on 105 pitches (84 strikes), but he earned a no-decision as the late game went to extra innings.
It was Alcantara’s sixth consecutive game pitching at least seven innings and allowing no more than one earned run. In this stretch, Alcantara has a 0.56 ERA, allowing three earned runs over 48 innings while striking out 46 and walking just eight. His ERA for the season, as a result, has dropped from 3.03 in the six starts prior to this streak to
1.61, which is the lowest ERA in Marlins history through a player’s first 12 starts of the season. He is one of just four Marlins pitchers to maintain an ERA under 2.00 through 12 starts of a season.
Alcantara is just the eighth pitcher in Marlins history to pitch at least seven innings in six consecutive starts in the same season and the first to do so since Anibal Sanchez from April 24, 2012, to May 19, 2012.
The others: Kevin Brown (a franchise-record 16-game stretch in 1996), Carl Pavano (13 consecutive games in 2004), Dontrelle Willis (eight consecutive games in 2006), Livan Hernandez (eight consecutive games in 1998), Josh Johnson (six consecutive games on three separate occasions, once each in 2009, 2010 and 2011) and A.J. Burnett (six consecutive games in 2005).
He is the first MLB pitcher to accomplish such a feat since Noah Syndergaard from July 13 through Aug. 10, 2019.
He is also the third different pitcher in the past 10 seasons to put together a six-game streak with at least sevens innings and allowing no more than one earned run in each outing. Clayton Kershaw and Jake Arrieta are the others.
In Alcantara’s previous five starts of this stretch, the Marlins’ offense scored 30 total runs. Miami went 5-0 in those five games.
But over nine innings, Alcantara wasn’t as fortunate on Wednesday.
And it’s not like the offense didn’t have its chances. Miami went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position through the first ninth inning.
The Marlins loaded the bases with one out in the first on back-to-back singles by Garrett Cooper and Jorge Soler before
Jesus Aguilar reached on a catcher’s interference. Avisail Garcia and Jon Berti both proceeded to strike out swinging to strand all three.
They had runners on first and second with no outs in the third when Cooper and Soler again hit back-to-back singles, but Aguilar lined out, Garcia popped out and Berti struck out swinging. Two more stranded.
And in the ninth, Miami got its first two runners on base via a Berti single and Miguel Rojas walk.
What followed: A Jacob Stallings bunt attempt resulted in a force out at third base. A Bryan De La Cruz ground ball resulting in a fielder’s choice out at second base. And a Jazz Chisholm Jr. strikeout to send the game to extra innings.
INJURY UPDATES
Center fielder Jesus Sanchez was not in the lineup Wednesday after being removed in the second inning Tuesday with upper back tightness.
“I heard he was a little better,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said, “but when I saw him, he didn’t have that giant smile on his face, so I had a feeling he wasn’t feeling great.”
Third baseman/outfielder Brian Anderson saw a spine specialist on Wednesday but Mattingly did not have a formal update on how the visit went.
UP NEXT
The Marlins wrap up their three-game series with the Nationals and their seven-game homestand on Thursday, with first pitch set for 6:40 p.m. Trevor Rogers is on the mound for the Marlins, while Stephen Strasburg will make his 2022 debut for the Nationals.
After that, the Marlins embark on a three-city, 10-game, 11-day trip against the Houston Astros (Friday through Sunday), Philadelphia Phillies (Monday through Wednesday) and New York Mets (June 17-20).