Sandy stumbles in Cy showdown against Skubal, Tigers

DETROIT -- Sandy vs. Skubal.

Sunday’s series finale between the Marlins and Tigers figured to be a pitchers’ duel due to Tarik Skubal, the two-time reigning American League Cy Young winner, facing off against Sandy Alcantara, who had recaptured his 2022 National League Cy Young form.

That wasn’t the case as Alcantara got tagged for seven runs, including three homers, for just the third time in his career in an 8-2 loss to the Tigers on Sunday afternoon at Comerica Park. Miami, which was outscored 16-3 over the weekend, is back to .500 for the first time since Opening Day.

“Trying to do my best out there, trying to go seven innings, trying to give my team the lead to win the game,” Alcantara said. “It didn’t happen. We feel bad because we got swept today, but we’ve got to go to the Braves tonight, get some rest, be ready for tomorrow, and give our best like always, and try to win the game.”

There arguably wasn’t a hotter pitcher in the Majors entering Sunday than Alcantara, who was coming off back-to-back starts of at least eight innings for the first time in his career.

The 30-year-old also had not allowed a long ball through his first 24 1/3 frames and ranked first in fWAR (0.9), second in innings, second in WHIP (0.58), third in average (.123) and fifth in ERA (0.74) among 88 qualified pitchers. Alcantara had permitted just 10 hits all season -- as many as he gave up across six frames Sunday.

After needing just one pitch for his first out of the game, things quickly escalated. Colt Keith and Riley Greene collected consecutive two-out singles on sinkers before Dillon Dingler deposited an 0-2 changeup into the left-field stands for a three-run homer.

Opposing batters had been just 2-for-19 (.105) with nine strikeouts and a 45.9 whiff rate against Alcantara's changeup this season.

Alcantara settled down until one out in the fifth, when baseball's No. 2 prospect, Kevin McGonigle, ambushed his middle-middle 97.3 mph four-seamer for his first Major League home run to make it a 4-0 ball game.

Detroit then broke the game open by sending all nine batters to the plate in the sixth against Alcantara, who walked one and allowed five hits, including Kerry Carpenter’s two-run shot on his new sweeper well out of the zone, in the frame.

"One of the things that I thought we did, we chased a little bit, but not a ton, and that's really key when you're facing a top-end pitcher is to not give him any more strikes than he's going to earn,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “And for the most part, I thought we made him work in getting into deep counts, and then, obviously, hit his mistakes."

Alcantara outdueled Skubal when these aces last squared off on Sept. 12. The Marlins’ right-hander tossed seven innings of two-run ball, while the Tigers’ southpaw was chased after allowing four runs in 3 1/3 frames.

This time around, Skubal limited Miami to just one run over 6 2/3 innings. He kept the Marlins hitless until Austin Slater, who spent Spring Training with the Tigers, collected a two-out flare to center in the sixth.

The Marlins, who were averaging 5.15 runs per game to begin the weekend, combined for just three runs on 14 hits, with seven walks and 24 strikeouts in Detroit. The typically contact-oriented lineup went hitless in 16 at-bats with a runner in scoring position and left 17 on base.

Miami was dealt a blow before the weekend started with Griffin Conine’s surgery news, but help is on the way with the eventual return of All-Star outfielder Kyle Stowers. In his second game of a rehab assignment on Sunday, Stowers finished 1-for-3 and played eight innings in left field.

Until then, Sunday capped an early litmus test with three consecutive series against 2025 postseason teams: Yankees (1-2), Reds (2-2) and Tigers (0-3). It won’t get easier, with the NL East-leading Braves on deck.

“The positive is this is just part of the season, and we're just 16 games in now, and to think that there weren't going to be stretches or series that were more frustrating than others, I think we'd be kidding ourselves,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. “The positives for me are what's happened has happened, and so now you just make a choice.

“We're going to get on a plane, head to Atlanta for a big series down there [for] three games, and just look to go play well tomorrow.”