Dominican Sandy Alcántara became an unexpected protagonist of the Miami Marlins’ 4-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks by earning the first save of his career in the Major Leagues.
With Miami still in contention for a spot in the NL playoffs, manager Clayton McCullough turned to his top pitcher to close out the game in the ninth inning, just two days after Alcántara threw 101 pitches in a start against Arizona.
The right-hander, who leads the Major Leagues with 206 innings pitched this season, needed just 13 pitches to complete the ninth inning. He got two fly balls for the first outs and then walked Lars Nootbaar.
Arizona tried to take advantage of the situation with Jordan Lawlar as a pinch runner, but catcher Joe Mack threw to second base and put the runner out to end the game.
It was Alcántara’s first save in the Major Leagues. His previous eight relief appearances had occurred during his rookie season with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2017.
The Dominican now has 201 starts in his career in the Majors and has once again established himself as one of the main arms of Miami’s rotation after overcoming Tommy John surgery that caused him to miss the entire 2024 season.
Marsee drives victory
Jakob Marsee was the Marlins’ main offensive protagonist by hitting a two-run homer in the third inning off Merrill Kelly, his 11th home run of the season.
Marsee had also hit a double in the second inning, when Miami scored two more runs. Heriberto Hernández drove in one with an infield single and another came home after a throwing error by third baseman Nolan Arenado.
Hernández finished the game with four of the Marlins’ 10 hits.
For Arizona, Pavin Smith, Gabriel Moreno and Arenado hit home runs. Moreno had a three-hit night and raised his batting average to .307.
Kelly, who was making the 200th start of his Major League career, went 4.2 innings, allowing seven hits and four runs, three of them earned, in addition to striking out nine batters.
A demanding season
Alcántara has 206 innings in 32 starts this season, with 13 wins, 10 losses, a 3.84 ERA and 149 strikeouts.
His current campaign also represents another important step in his return after Tommy John surgery. In 2022, the Dominican won the National League Cy Young Award after leading the Major Leagues with 228.2 innings and posting a 2.28 ERA.
Miami improved its record to 76-77 and continues to have a chance of reaching the postseason. Arizona fell to 80-73 and moved 3.5 games behind San Diego in the fight for the last wild card spot in the National League, with nine games remaining for the Diamondbacks.
The Marlins will have a day off before beginning a three-game series in San Diego on Friday.
