Sandy saves the day again as Fish keep Cubs from joining playoff field

CHICAGO – If Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara keeps racking up saves, he’s going to need a closer song ready should the opportunity arise at home.

For the second time in a week, Alcantara collected the save in a Ryan Gusto start as the Marlins beat the Cubs, 3-2, on Wednesday night at Wrigley Field.

“I don't know,” Alcantara said. “I’ve got to see and find a really good song that comes back to myself. Maybe I’ve got to [have] my son pick one.”

Here are three storylines from the win, which secured Miami’s series victory and postponed Chicago’s postseason-clinching celebration at least another day:

Save No. 2 for Sandy

Alcantara surprised the baseball world by recording his first career save last Wednesday in Arizona. He then went on to make his regularly scheduled start in San Diego on Sunday, where he gave up four runs over six innings in a loss.

After requiring eight relievers, including Eury Pérez, in Tuesday’s 12-inning win, manager Clayton McCullough turned to Alcantara in Wednesday’s ninth.

Undeterred by Pedro Ramírez’s leadoff single, Alcantara got a flyout from Dansby Swanson and induced a game-ending 6-4-3 double play off the bat of Carson Kelly.

In both save situations, Alcantara pitched out of the stretch to “adapt myself as a closer.”

“My first opportunity, I was a little nervous,” Alcantara said. “[Once] I threw the first pitch, just everything goes away. Today, I don't feel anything. I'm a quick guy to adapt to anything, so I feel good.”

Pérez struck out the side in the eighth inning Tuesday in his relief debut. He will make his final start of the season Friday, when the club returns home. Alcantara is slated for his final start Saturday.

“[Alcantara] runs out of that bullpen as he has a couple times, and we all just have so much faith in him and trust,” McCullough said. “He came out there and he filled it up and put up a zero. Hats off to him for continuing to be open to do this right here at this stage and getting the job done.”

Gusto caps solid campaign

Though Gusto got chased in the sixth inning while facing the Cubs’ lineup a third time, he limited their powerful offense to two runs.

Gusto kept Pete Crow-Armstrong from stealing his 40th base of the season and joining the exclusive 40/40 club. On two pickoff attempts, a chorus of boos rang from the crowd at Wrigley.

“You just imagine they're cheering for you,” Gusto said. “It's pretty simple. I think that it's honestly better when the stadium's loud like it is because you just drown it out a lot easier, for one. But then you feel that momentum and adrenaline and channel it for yourself.”

The 27-year-old Gusto, who began the season at Triple-A Jacksonville and was optioned two other times, has stuck around since early July to become one of the club’s most consistent pitchers.

Over his final 10 starts, Gusto posted a 3.12 ERA. Once considered starting-pitching depth, he should be in the mix to make the 2027 Opening Day rotation. The next step is keeping his whiff numbers high and maintaining consistency to earn the trust of going deeper in games.

“We've come a really long way,” Gusto said. “If I look at how my arsenal was in Spring Training and the first part of the season in Triple-A, it's completely different right now. So I think we've done a really great job about building the confidence around every pitch and getting every pitch to the spot that I can be confident in.”

Kyle Stowers goes deep again

Stowers broke a scoreless deadlock in the sixth inning with a two-run homer against righty Kevin Gausman, pummeling a four-seamer over the center-field wall.

It marked the second time this month Stowers has homered on back-to-back days after a 13-game homerless drought. Despite being sidelined with hamstring trouble three times this season, he has still managed to hit 21 homers (second most on the team) in 120 games.

During his 2025 All-Star season, Stowers clubbed 25 home runs before a left oblique strain cut short his breakout year at 117 games.

“We know how much Kyle means to our group, this lineup, when he's going well,” McCullough said. “Nice to see him here recently hit some balls out to center, left-center field. I think that, for the early part of the year, was lacking a little bit.”