MIAMI -- Tuesday night wasn’t the first time and most likely won’t be the last time a Marlins manager faced the tough decision of whether to ride Sandy Alcantara deep into a ballgame.
Don Mattingly and Skip Schumaker, both of whom were named National League Manager of the Year with the organization, often tackled that dilemma during their tenures when Miami’s ace was at his best.
Welcome to the club, Clayton McCullough.
Two outs shy of becoming the first Major Leaguer to throw back-to-back shutouts in 11 years, Alcantara instead watched from the dugout as the Marlins blew a late lead and eventually lost, 6-3, to the Reds in 10 innings at loanDepot park.
“It hurts. It does,” McCullough said. “Anytime you get an effort like that from Sandy."
Alcantara, who tossed a Maddux (shutout under 100 pitches) last Wednesday, entered the ninth flirting with another at just 83 pitches. When he required just two pitches to collect the first out of the inning, a harmless flyout to left, it seemed inevitable that there would be a repeat performance.
After falling behind 2-0 to the next batter Matt McLain, Alcantara evened the count at 2 but gave up a soft-contact double (79.7 mph exit velocity) – the first extra-base hit against him all season. He then walked Elly De La Cruz on five pitches, four of which missed badly.
“I could've been more aggressive,” Alcantara lamented. “Man on base, Elly De La Cruz, he's always aggressive swinging [at the] first pitch. So I think I could do a better job throwing my best pitch in the strike zone. But it is what it is. Next time, just make sure to not walk anyone.”
With two Reds on base for the first time all game, McCullough came out of the dugout to a chorus of boos. Alcantara didn’t get a chance to plead his case, as McCullough had already made the call to the bullpen for right-hander Anthony Bender to face the right-handed-hitting Sal Stewart.
McCullough likely weighed several factors when mulling the decision to stick with Alcantara or look elsewhere.
An efficient Alcantara had an extra day of rest and entered with a .596 career OPS against when facing the lineup a fourth time. With closer Pete Fairbanks away from the club on the paternity list, McCullough would need to turn to setup man – albeit one with closing experience. Bender, who has 15 career saves, entered with a .542 career OPS against righties.
“[I] felt like [the] fourth time some of those guys coming up that Bender was the best person to win the game for us, and Sandy had certainly gone above and beyond and threw great,” McCullough said.
Added Alcantara: “So I think I deserve to be asked how I feel before taking me out of the game [at] 95 pitches and [with a] righty on deck. But it is what it is. Just got to get ready for my next outing. Get back tomorrow and fight the same way that we did today.”
Bender permitted a double steal, then gave up Stewart’s sacrifice fly and the game-tying run on a wild pitch. In the 10th, righty Calvin Faucher surrendered four runs to put the game out of reach. The boo birds returned when McCullough took out Faucher following Matt McLain’s two-run double.
“That one hurts for sure,” said Bender, who coughed up multiple runs in consecutive outings prior to Tuesday. “Sandy being as dominant as he is and not being able to slam the door stings. But come back tomorrow, flush it and get back to work.”
If there’s any silver lining, it’s how dominant Alcantara has been through three starts. He has allowed just three runs (two earned) over 24 1/3 innings.
The 30-year-old picked up where he left off last Wednesday by retiring the side on six pitches and breaking three bats in the first inning. He took a perfect game into the fifth and didn’t permit a runner in scoring position until the sixth. His first three-ball count came in the seventh, as did the furthest ball hit – a routine 355-foot flyout to left field.
“I think there's a lot of decisions that go throughout the course of the game, through the course of the season, that do weigh on you, and for this one to turn and not end up in our favor certainly doesn't feel great,” McCullough said. “I also know to come here and [to] answer, that is certainly part of it, and I don't feel great about how it finished for us. I think there's a lot of decisions throughout the course of the year that do weigh on you. Us losing the game is for me what stings the most.”