Sandy's value -- to Marlins? -- soars after scoreless gem vs. Phils

MIAMI – Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara had a noticeable edge to him from the get-go in Tuesday night’s 1-0 win over the Phillies at loanDepot park.

While Miami was in the midst of its franchise-record 12-game skid, Alcantara had a chance to be the stopper – something he takes pride in – but fell short of that in last Wednesday’s road loss to the Astros when he surrendered a pair of homers in the eighth.

Alcantara didn’t stumble across seven frames against the Phillies, as the Marlins (54-54) won their second in a row to move back to .500 and remain two games behind the third and final National League Wild Card spot.

Miami also secured its first series victory over Philadelphia (57-51) – which holds the second NL Wild Card spot – in 11 tries dating back to September 2023 en route to a postseason berth.

“I didn't do it in Houston,” Alcantara said. “It was a great game to me, but it was a bad game for the team because we lost. But yeah, everything was working since I took the field today. Warming up in my ‘pen, warming up between innings.”

Alcantara, who leads the Majors in innings (150 2/3) and quality starts (16), set the franchise mark with the 111th QS of his career and flirted with a no-hitter into the fifth. He allowed four hits, walked one and struck out five in a 97-pitch outing (64 strikes).

The Phillies threatened against Alcantara in the second, when the first two batters reached, but he retired the next three in order to escape the threat. To open the fourth, Jakob Marsee robbed Bryce Harper of extra bases, crashing into the left-center-field wall to track down the fly ball. According to Statcast, it had a .920 expected batting average and would’ve been a homer in nine ballparks.

“I knew he hit it good, so I put my head down and tried to peek as much as I could to see where the wall was, and then from there just try to get up and make the play,” Marsee said.

Griffin Conine made a sliding catch on Justin Crawford’s liner for the second out of the fifth. However, former teammate Bryan De La Cruz reached on an infield hit to the right side of the infield to break up the no-no one batter later. After De La Cruz’s two-out double in the seventh, Alcantara induced an inning-ending groundout from Garrett Stubbs to end his night.

“Every pitch felt like it was competitive, where they had to make a decision,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “How he moved the ball around, threw some really good sweepers, the cutter was a good pitch tonight. And then, certainly his fastball. He came out, I think, with a real edge to him tonight, and dialed up what we needed in a fantastic start.”

With Monday’s 6 p.m. ET Trade Deadline looming, Tuesday felt different from a year ago when Alcantara took the mound for what could’ve been his final home start in a Marlins uniform.

Back then, Alcantara was beginning to look more like himself post-elbow surgery, and the Marlins weren’t in the postseason picture. It appeared as though he might be on the move.

Now, it seems like the opposite. Miami is still in the thick of the playoff race and Alcantara is on a roll, with a 2.99 ERA over his past 11 starts. Chairman and principal owner Bruce Sherman recently told Marlins Radio he wants the cornerstone to be part of the future, though ultimately the decision belongs to president of baseball operations Peter Bendix.

“So I'm here, I play for the Marlins,” Alcantara said. “I don't have much to say about if I'm going to get traded or not. So, always blessed to be here every day. If something happens, it just happens.

“I always want to feel thankful for this organization, for all the opportunities that they give to me, to my family, friends and all the stuff. If something happens, it just happens. I'm always going to be grateful for this team.”

The difference in the ballgame was Kyle Stowers’ solo shot off righty Aaron Nola’s knuckle curve in the first inning for his second homer of the homestand.

Two embattled high-leverage relievers – righty Calvin Faucher and closer Pete Fairbanks – pitched a perfect eighth and ninth, respectively, to cement the club’s second consecutive one-run win.

“We played today's game probably eight times over that stretch,” Stowers said. “So today, we played great because we won. I think that's just kind of how it goes. Just an unbelievable job by Calvin and Pete there at the end, too, to go six up, six down out of the ‘pen. No drama. [It] was just so impressive against a really good lineup.”