Alcantara leads Marlins
Pitcher retires the final 20 batters in eight-inning gem
Sandy Alcantara retired his last 20 batters, pitching three-hit ball over eight innings to lead Miami over the Washington Nationals 8-2 Monday night and give the Marlins just their fourth win in 15 games.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Bryan De La Cruz had three hits each, and Avisail Garcia homered for the Marlins, who had 16 hits and matched their second-highest total this season.
Alcantara (3-2) needed 43 pitches to get through the first two innings and 57 for innings three through eight. Washington had three hits in the first, including Yadiel Hernandez’s RBI single, and had the bases loaded with one out before Maikel Franco grounded into a forceout at home and Lane Thomas struck out.
Alcantara struck out five, walked one and hit a pair of batters.
Cubs 9, Pirates 0: Willson Contreras led off with a double and became a rare leadoff hitter with a first-inning grand slam as Chicago burst to an eight-run lead and beat Pittsburgh. Contreras became the 10th leadoff hitter since 1901 with a first-inning slam, the first since Houston’s George Springer off Kansas City’s Edinson Volquez on June 24, 2016. The slam was the 100th homer of Contreras’ career, making him the third Cubs catcher to reach that mark along with Gabby Hartnett and Jody Davis. Contreras became the first Cub with two extrabase hits in an inning since Javier Baez on May 1, 2019.
Tigers 3, Rays 2: Harold Castro hit his first home run of the year with two outs in the ninth inning, a tiebreaking shot that sent Detroit past Tampa Bay for its season-best fourth straight victory. Castro connected off Andrew Kittredge (3-1) for his first long ball since going deep in consecutive games against Oakland in early September last year. He had three home runs in 2021. Michael Fulmer (2-2) got the win in relief and Gregory Soto pitched the ninth for his sixth save in seven tries.
Brewers 1, Braves 0: Freddy Peralta dominated over seven innings, Hunter Renfroe scored on a wild pitch and the Milwaukee two-hit Atlanta. Peralta (3-1) gave up two hits and a walk while striking out 10 and retiring his final 11 batters. Atlanta starter Ian Anderson (3-2) shut out Milwaukee through five innings before the Brewers broke through in the sixth.
Blue Jays 6, Mariners 2: Yusei Kikuchi allowed one hit over six shutout innings to beat his former team, Bo Bichette and Matt Chapman backed the left-hander with home runs and Toronto topped Seattle.
Notes: Houston Astros righthander Jake Odorizzi collapsed running to cover first base in the fifth inning Monday night against the Boston Red Sox and was taken off the Fenway Park field on a stretcher. Odorizzi, who entered the game with a 152⁄3-inning shutout streak, appeared to twist his left leg awkwardly on the delivery to Kike Hernandez. When he turned to cover first base, he took a step and then sprawled out, face down, on the grass. The team said he had “left lower leg discomfort.” ... Cleveland acquired righthander Yohan Ramirez from Seattle for cash or a player to be named. The 27-year-old Ramirez, who made seven appearances for the Mariners this season, was immediately optioned to Triple-a Columbus. ... Johnny Cueto is back in the majors, this time with the Chicago White Sox. The 36year-old Cueto was brought up from Triple-a Charlotte on Monday, and the right-hander was slated to start the opener of a five-game series at Kansas City . ... Gerardo Parra says he is retiring from baseball after 12 seasons in the major leagues and will become a special assistant to Washington general manager Mike Rizzo.