Just like old times! The Dominican Sandy Alcantara He worked all nine innings this Wednesday in a shutout against the Chicago White Sox in which he needed less than 100 pitches for the Miami Marlins They emerged victorious by a resounding score of 10-0 at LoanDepot Park.
Alcántara, who completed an opening that is known as “Maddux”, in honor of the pitcher member of the Hall of Fame, Greg Madduxachieved the second start with these characteristics of his career in the Major Leagues.
This is the shutout and the earliest “Maddux” in a campaign since Nathan Eovaldi did it in the sixth game of the Texas Rangers in the previous contest. The most recent pitcher to record a nine-inning, scoreless pitch with fewer than 100 pitches thrown was Sonny Grayof the St. Louis Cardinals at that time, on June 27 against the Cleveland Guardians.
Likewise, this marked the first shutout for the Marlins right-hander since April 4, 2023. On this occasion, Alcántara needed only 93 pitches to dispatch the young white-legged slugger. He tolerated a trio of hits (all singles) and struck out seven opponents.
The man from Quito retired 16 opponents in a row after hitting the Cuban with a ball Miguel Vargas with two outs in the third inning. The Venezuelan Luisángel Acuña He broke that chain by hitting a single with a couple of outs in the eighth inning.
Airtight until now
After his first two outings of the recently inaugurated tournament, against the Rockies and White Soxthe prize winner Cy Young of the National League In 2023 he has allowed just one run (unearned) and seven hits in 16 innings of work, in which he has put 12 opponents through the guillotine and issued two walks.
Offensively, the hero for Miami was Liam Hickswho received Alcántara’s deliveries in the catcher, after hitting a home run and registering four runs batted in, equaling the most for him in a single game in the MLB.
Not counting the pandemic season in 2020, Miami has won five of its first six games for the first time since 2014.
