Alcantara's 7-inning start provides much-needed relief to Marlins bullpen

WASHINGTON -- When Eury Pérez landed on the injured list on Friday with a right gracilis (inner thigh) strain, the Marlins had a decision to make: Who will start in Pérez’s place on Tuesday in Washington?

At the moment, it appears Miami will largely rely on its bullpen. Righty reliever Ryan Gusto is expected to be recalled pregame and pitch in some capacity. But beyond that, nothing is set in stone.

And for that reason, Sandy Alcantara delivering seven solid innings in Miami’s 7-3 win in the series opener on Monday night at Nationals Park was one of the most important things he could do -- and a big reason that, despite giving up three runs by the third inning, the Marlins had no plans to take their ace out of the game.

“He's a really good pitcher,” Nationals manager Blake Butera said. “I know maybe the results aren't what [we] would like, or we're used to seeing, but when he's in the fifth, sixth inning, still throwing 100 miles an hour, and the amount of secondary pitches he has -- he had a really good changeup going tonight that he was using against the lefties. He had a cutter as well that just kind of kept our hitters off balance, just a touch. I thought we had some good swings on him. He was just getting us right off the barrel just a little bit. [He] was able to get some ground balls because of that secondary.”

Aside from a two-run homer from Jacob Young in the second and a pair of singles leading to another run in the third, Alcantara was efficient. He entered the seventh having only thrown 81 pitches, with the potential to go the distance as he has already done this season (April 1 vs. the White Sox).

"He threw the ball well,” Young said. “His fastball velo was up. He attacked, threw a lot of strikes. He's a good arm. He's won a Cy Young ... I thought we did a good job with him early. He settled in a little bit after that and was able to keep us at bay."

A complete game wasn’t in the cards, as Alcantara had worked up to 95 pitches by the end of the seventh, but in the end it wasn’t necessary -- Michael Petersen shut down the Nats in the eighth and Pete Fairbanks closed it out after Miami’s offense came through with three insurance runs in the top of the ninth, including homers from Liam Hicks (solo) and Kyle Stowers (two-run).

But the run support wasn’t necessary to Alcantara’s success, as he struck out five while allowing just those three runs on seven hits, limiting the damage to haul in a win and end Miami’s skid at five games -- with help from a game-tying pinch-hit two-run homer from Heriberto Hernández in the sixth inning.

“Great outing today, by me and as a team,” Alcantara said, “we did a great job together today.

“Last outing was tough for me … so I came back today with a positive mentality, knowing that I got pitches to be out there and compete, and you know, I can see what I did.”

Alcantara’s presence on the bump -- particularly after having given up eight runs on 10 hits and three homers vs. the Blue Jays on Tuesday -- enabled the offense to find its groove, rather than try to force it. After taking advantage of some early control issues from starter Cade Cavalli, who allowed one run in the first on three walks and a single, Miami was quiet until the sixth.

Leo Jiménez singled to open the frame and knock Cavalli out of the game before right-handed-hitting Hernández was called upon to face southpaw Richard Lovelady. One more run scored against Lovelady, when Connor Norby doubled in Jakob Marsee (hit-by-pitch) to take a lead the Fish never relinquished.

Obviously, Alcantara is happy to earn the win, particularly when it means stopping his team’s losing streak. But what was he most proud of on Monday night?

“How aggressive I was in the game,” Alcantara said. “Since the first inning -- I know I gave up a homer in the second inning, but that doesn’t matter to me. I just want to be able to compete out there, to go deep in the game today, because knowing that we will be using the ‘pen a lot [tomorrow], I just wanted to give a chance to my ‘pen to rest for a couple days.”