Alcantara becomes 5th active Dominican-born pitcher to reach 1,000 K's

PITTSBURGH – Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara recorded his 1,000th career strikeout during Friday night’s 8-3 victory against the Pirates at PNC Park.

Miami (35-35) has won six in a row, and nine of 10 to open June and return to .500 for the first time since April 24 (13-13).

The 30-year-old Alcantara, who entered the series opener five shy, became the fifth active Dominican-born pitcher to reach the milestone (Luis Castillo, Freddy Peralta, Luis Severino, Framber Valdez) and the 26th all-time. All but 10 of his K’s have come with Miami, which acquired him from St. Louis in the Marcell Ozuna trade of December 2017. His 991 strikeouts as a Marlin rank second in franchise history behind Ricky Nolasco (1,001).

Here is a breakdown of his strikeouts in the game:

First inning: Brandon Lowe chased a 0-2, 92.3 mph changeup for the second out
Second inning: Tyler Callihan missed a 3-2, 93.1 mph changeup for the third out
Third inning: Lowe foul-tipped a 2-2, 99.9 mph sinker for the final out
Fourth inning: Ryan O’Hearn looked at a 100.4 mph sinker for the first out
Fourth inning: Callihan looked at an 87.4 mph sweeper for the final out
Seventh inning: Callihan strikes out swinging on a 99.5 mph four-seamer for the first out
Eighth inning: Jared Triolo caught looking at a 92.3 mph changeup for the first out

Alcantara’s 100.4 mph sinker was his fastest velocity of that pitch this season, while the sweeper is one of his newer pitches.

In his third consecutive quality start, Alcantara allowed three runs on five hits, including two homers, with one walk and the seven strikeouts over eight frames. He also leapfrogged Phillies southpaw Cristopher Sánchez for the MLB lead in innings pitched (97 1/3).

Strikeouts have never been the focus of Alcantara’s game because his sinker/changeup mix often makes him a groundball machine, though the righty did notch consecutive 200-K seasons from 2021-22 in large part by surpassing the 200-inning mark in both years. He entered Friday with a 7.7 K/9 rate in 191 games (183 starts) across parts of nine big league campaigns.

Six members of Miami’s lineup drove in a run to back Alcantara.

The Marlins turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead in the fifth on Otto Lopez’s RBI groundout and Kyle Stowers’ RBI single. After Pittsburgh tied the game at 2 in the fifth, Miami put up a four-spot in the seventh. Xavier Edwards (sacrifice fly), Heriberto Hernández (RBI single) and Owen Caissie (two-run double) got the best of righty reliever Wilber Dotel to put Alcantara in line for the win.

Hicks added a two-run homer off the right-field pole in the eighth off righty Antwone Kelly’s changeup in his Major League debut. Hicks paces the club with 13 taters, and his 50 RBIs lead all Major Leaguers whose primary position is catcher.