MLB's leader in IP has a 'sweet' secret to success

MIAMI – Every Sandy Alcantara start day, the Marlins don’t need to drag their feet to the ballpark because an Alcantara start almost always guarantees a well-paced game and satisfied sweet tooths.

Turns out one of the Majors’ top workhorses has been fueled by Crumbl cookies since last season, when Alcantara began asking a clubhouse attendant to order them on his behalf.

Alcantara didn’t alter the ritual before retaking the Major League lead for innings (89 1/3) with another strong performance in Sunday afternoon’s 4-1 comeback win over the Rays at loanDepot park.

“Why can I not do it?” said Alcantara, who uses a cookie cutter to make enough pieces. “I try to be a good teammate, so, hopefully, I [can be] here for a long time to keep doing it.

“[I eat] just like half a piece. You can't go with any flavor because they change it every week, but all those cookies are great. I'm a candy man, so I like sweets, but yeah, Crumbl cookie is good, so I’ve just got to keep bringing them.”

The 30-year-old Alcantara allowed just one run over seven frames, scattering five hits – all singles – with one walk and a season-high-tying seven strikeouts. With his trademark efficiency, Alcantara averaged just 12.9 pitches per inning.

“I think Alcantara was really tough,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “He had a good fastball going. Mixed his fastball well between the two-seam and the four-seam, kept us off-balance. A lot of power and super efficient."

Standout defense behind Alcantara also helped him thwart possible rallies and limit the damage in a 90-pitch outing.

In the second, catcher Joe Mack motioned to Alcantara to catch former teammate Victor Mesa Jr. stealing to end the second. Gold Glove-winning utility player Javier Sanoja started a nifty around-the-horn double play in the fourth, and Cedric Mullins followed with a rocket to right-center, where Owen Caissie leapt at the wall and robbed him of at least extra bases to conclude the frame.

Three innings later, Alcantara struck out Mesa swinging and Mack threw out Mullins trying to steal after an overturn on a replay review.

“A lot of good things happened on the defensive end,” said Mack, who grabbed a bite of a s’mores cookie in the postgame clubhouse. “He was out there working his butt off, pitching his butt off, throwing the ball extremely well. It's only right for us to help him out.”

Vintage Alcantara came at the perfect time for Miami, which relied on a bullpen game in Saturday’s win and a bulk outing in Friday’s loss as the club continues to navigate an injury-ravaged rotation.

Even with an inflated ERA (4.33), Alcantara has been able to consistently go deep into games, with the series finale marking his ninth quality start – tied for third most in MLB.

“You just kind of circle his day when he's going to pitch,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. “You feel like – knock on wood – you're going to bank six or more innings from him, and that's what really he's done all season long. … Having Sandy at this level, pitching the way he has, and to, again, bank that type of length, that's what he gets paid to do.”

On offense, Miami did enough to support Alcantara. The lineup turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead in the sixth. With one out, Liam Hicks walked and scored on Otto Lopez’s RBI triple to the right-center gap. Lopez then came home on Kyle Stowers’ sacrifice fly to left.

The Marlins extended the lead to 4-1 in the seventh. With the infield drawn in, catcher Hunter Feduccia dropped shortstop Taylor Walls’ throw home on Mack’s grounder as two runs scored on the play.

With the victory, Miami has captured consecutive series for the first time since the opening week (vs. Rockies and White Sox), and on the heels of a season-high five-game skid.

By taking two of three over the weekend, the Marlins also split the Citrus Series with their instate rivals for the second consecutive season. This development is notable considering how lopsided the matchup has been in recent memory. Tampa Bay, in many ways, is the model organization president of baseball operations Peter Bendix, a longtime Rays front-office member, is trying to build in Miami.

“That's what's required to win at this level,” McCullough said. “You need to pitch well, play defense behind them, and offensively, you're just looking to try to find whatever ways in that particular game what it takes to just score more than the other person.”