Marlins’ Alcantara pitches 1-0 gem
Cy Young winner shuts down Twins
Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara pitched a three-hit, 1-0, complete-game shutout against the Minnesota Twins as the Miami Marlins eked out a 1-0 victory Tuesday night at home. It was the major leagues’ first complete game of the season.
The game ended in 1 hour and 57 minutes. Alcantara, who pitched six of the big leagues’ 36 complete games in 2022, struck out five and walked one.
“My focus was to finish the game,” Alcantara said. “It doesn’t matter how many pitches.” Alcantara threw 68 of his 100 pitches for strikes.
In his second appearance of the season, Alcantara struck out five and walked none and got all the support he needed when Avisail Garcia smacked a solo home run in the second inning. Avisail’s blast was one of only five hits registered by the Marlins.
Twins starter Kenta Maeda, who missed last season after having Tommy John surgery, struck out nine before leaving in the sixth inning with an apparent arm issue. Maeda, who had not pitched since Aug. 21, 2021, allowed three hits and threw 79 pitches.
The loss was Minnesota’s first after opening the season with four win.
Other games
Diamondbacks8, Padres 6: San Diego blew a four-run lead with Jose Herrera’s single driving in the go-ahead run in the eighth and Josh Rojas scoring the final run by stealing home on the front end of a double steal. Rojas had three hits and two RBIs.
Cubs 12, Reds 5: Chicago scored 10 runs in the final three innings to pull away at Cincinnati. Trey Mancini and Patrick Wisdom each had three RBIs. The Reds had home runs by Jason Vosler, Stuart Fairchild and TJ Friedl in the loss.
Phillies 4, Yankees 1: Philadelphia got its first win of the season after four losses behind a home run and a runscoring single by Kyle Schwarber. Matt Strahm and four relievers combined to hold New York to four hits.
Rays 10, Nationals 6: Tampa Bay put together a five-run rally in the top of the ninth. The Rays put together home runs by Josh Lowe, Luke Raley and a three-run blast by Yandy Diaz to snatch the victory.
Brewers 9, Mets 0: Brian Anderson drove in six runs with two home runs and a two-run double in the first inning. Wade Miley pitched six scoreless inning and three relief pitchers wrapped up the shutout.
Blue Jays 4, Royals 1: Yusei Kikuchi gave Toronto five strong inning and the Blue Jays bullpen held Kansas City to one hit in the final four innings.
Braves 4, Cardinals 1: Austin Riley hit a two-run homer in the first inning, Orlando Arcia added a solo blast in the second and Dylan Dodd combined with give relievers to beat St. Louis.
Orioles 7 Rangers 2: Baltimore jumped ahead with a five-run second inning and added two in the third on Jorge Mateo’s two-run homer. Kyle Gibson struck out seven in six inning to improve his record to 2-0
Tigers 6, Astros 3: Spencer Torkelson’s 424-foot home run in the eighth and Matt Vierling RBI double in the ninth pushed Detroit to its second consecutive win after three losses to start the season.