Alcantara hit uncharacteristically hard in 'devastating' loss for Marlins

MIAMI -- Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara takes pride in being Mr. Reliable and toeing the rubber every fifth day for his ballclub, especially now during the postseason chase.

It’s an opportunity Alcantara wasn’t afforded in 2023, when an elbow injury sidelined him and kept him out of the National League Wild Card Series. Last September, he still wasn’t himself in his return from Tommy John surgery as Miami fought off elimination until the final few days of the season.

That’s what makes Tuesday night’s 7-5 loss to the Mets at loanDepot park so frustrating for Alcantara, who allowed a season-high-tying seven runs in a season-low-tying 4 1/3 innings.

Miami (72-74) dropped two games below .500 for the first time since the franchise-record 12-game skid on July 26 and fell to six games behind Arizona (78-68) for the third and final National League Wild Card spot.

“[I] just feel very bad about the job that I've done tonight, knowing the position that we are [in] right now,” Alcantara said. “Losing is devastating for us. Just got to get hot and keep things together and just be out there and fight.”

Something was off from the get-go for Alcantara, who turned 31 on Monday. There was a relatively low dip in velocity – at least 1 mph on all of his pitches except the slider and changeup, which he threw a combined nine times -- and uncharacteristic command issues.

Francisco Lindor slugged a homer on the first pitch of the game before Alcantara walked back-to-back batters. Jared Young later added an RBI single.

In the second, Alcantara allowed a three-run homer to Juan Soto following a single and a hit-by-pitch. He then coughed up a solo shot to Brett Baty in the third. Just like that, Alcantara had surrendered a career-high-tying three homers through the first 17 batters faced.

Though Alcantara worked around a one-out double in a scoreless fourth, he got chased in the fifth following A.J. Ewing’s double to put a pair of runners in scoring position. Righty Tyler Zuber permitted a sacrifice fly to end Alcantara’s line.

"We did an unbelievable job of not chasing Sandy outside the zone,” Mets interim manager Andy Green said. “He usually throws so many strike-to-ball changeups, and you end up seeing a guy swing at him all the time, roll him over, hit him into double plays. We laid off that pitch all day long. He ended up with walks he doesn't typically have.”

Over his previous 12 starts, a stretch in which he went at least six innings in each outing, Alcantara had posted a 2.59 ERA. In his last two starts during that span, however, he gave up eight runs across 12 frames.

“Even the best of their craft in any sport have a tough night,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. “So for me, that's just kind of what it was. Just had a more difficult time tonight than some other outings, getting his secondaries over the plate. They had some good takes on some that were close, and then he was kind of forced to have some fastballs over the plate there when he's behind in the count, and guys put some good swings on him in those times.”

This start also came two days after Alcantara spent a few innings in the bullpen prepared to close out Sunday’s win if need be on his scheduled in-between-starts bullpen day.

“I just want to do everything for this team to win,” Alcantara said. “Clayton just [asked me] if I can come out from the bullpen. I said, ‘Yes,’ because if we want to win, I can do everything. But to me, it doesn't matter. If I need to come from the bullpen and do my best, I will do it, and that doesn't affect my mentality for being out there today and doing my best. Just rough outing for me today.”

The workhorse reached the 200-inning milestone in a season for the first time since his 2022 NL Cy Young-winning campaign. He also leads the Majors in starts (31) and quality starts (21). The personal statistics don’t mean much to Alcantara compared to the team’s success. With their playoff hopes dwindling, the Marlins have lost six straight Alcantara starts.

“It always means a lot, so a lot of credit to God to give me the opportunity to finish always strong, keep myself healthy all year,” Alcantara said. “But not much to say about the 200 innings. The most important thing for us right now is winning.”