PHILADELPHIA -- The Marlins were counting on a big performance by Sandy Alcantara as they tried to salvage the series finale at Citizens Bank Park.
When Miami’s ace struggled early, his teammates took things into their own hands.
Kyle Stowers belted a pair of home runs and drove in five runs, while Owen Caissie, Joe Mack and Jakob Marsee also went deep in the Marlins’ offensive barrage, a 12-4 win over the Phillies that sent them back to Miami on a high note following a couple of tough days in Philadelphia.
“In this league, you play so many games, you have no choice, good or bad, but to flush it going into the next day,” Stowers said. “The first two games didn't go in our favor, but today did, so we’ll go into the next game with the same mentality.”
The Marlins' 12 runs scored tied a season high. All five home runs were hit by left-handed hitters, establishing a new club record for homers by lefties in a game.
“That could have gone a lot of different ways in the early first few innings,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “For us to continue to add on, continue to score as that game went along, was a real good sign.”
Having gone 1-for-17 with runners in scoring position while being outscored 15-2 in the first two games of the series, the Marlins went 4-for-9 with RISP on Wednesday.
“When the Fish get hot, it's extremely contagious,” Caissie said. “We had great at-bats all day long.”
Three of those hits with RISP came from Stowers, who went 4-for-5 despite entering the day hitting only .175 with 24 strikeouts in his last 15 games.
“Any time you have success, you kind of loosen up the shoulders a little bit, and vice versa; when things aren't going your way, maybe you tense up a little bit,” Stowers said. “There's a sweet spot somewhere between caring a lot and trying too hard. I was able to kind of thread that needle today.”
Stowers’ first-inning homer handed Alcantara a two-run lead, but the Phillies used four singles -- none of which were hit particularly hard -- to tie the game.
Caissie opened the second with a solo homer against Painter, quickly regaining the lead for Miami, which tacked on three more runs in the inning.
“It was huge,” Caissie said. “We could have definitely rolled over and died at that point.”
Two errors and a bases-loaded balk helped cut the Marlins’ lead to 6-4 in the second inning, but Alcantara stranded runners at second and third to end the frame.
McCullough liked the way his ace was throwing the ball; the scoreboard may have told one story, but the manager’s eyes told him something different.
“I think it would be hard if you ran it through a simulator 100 times, how many of [that type of inning] actually come out,” McCullough said of the second inning. “We didn't handle a couple of balls, they flared some in there, the balk; there were so many reasons for him to go the other way, but that's Sandy. For him to bend but not break there -- in that second inning, in particular -- was the turning point for me.”
The right-hander rewarded McCullough’s faith, firing four scoreless innings after the bizarre start to his day. Homers by Mack and Stowers in the sixth stretched the lead to 10-4, giving Alcantara a healthy cushion for what turned out to be his final inning.
Alcantara finished his afternoon allowing four runs (two earned) on eight hits and a walk, striking out six in six innings. He now stands only four strikeouts away from passing Ricky Nolasco as the Marlins’ all-time strikeout leader (1,001).
“He buckled down, mitigated some damage there and was able to hold them,” McCullough said. “I know the line might not look like it, but this might have been one of his best starts of the season.”
Wednesday marked only the third Marlins win in Alcantara’s last 16 starts against the Phillies, as he picked up his first win against the division rival since April 2022.
“We lost the first two games here, so I wanted to do my best for my team to at least win one today,” Alcantara said. “I always like that responsibility; I think that's why I'm here. When I have the opportunity to be on the hump after back-to-back losses, I know I can do better to win the game. Today was great. We’re going to have a happy flight.”