PITTSBURGH – Cheers to “El Caballo.”
The Marlins toasted Sandy Alcantara with bottles of Veuve Clicquot shortly after Friday night’s 8-3 victory against the Pirates at PNC Park, where their ace recorded his 1,000th career strikeout.
“It means a lot,” Alcantara said. “I think I could have done that before, knowing that I lost almost two years because [of] the TJ [surgery]. I'm very grateful and thankful for this organization to give me an opportunity to [be] a starting pitcher here, so now getting 1,000 strikeouts is always a blessing to me. And that one is for my mom, and my family, for always supporting me, and my team as well.”
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.
“The fastball velocity was up there at 100 [mph],” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “More importantly, the command. He was living on the edges and at the bottom of the zone, it looked like. Made it extremely tough.”
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 leapfrogged Phillies southpaw Cristopher Sánchez for the MLB lead in innings pitched (97 1/3) and tied Dontrelle Willis for the most starts in franchise history with at least eight innings pitched (33).
Knowing his club would require a bullpen game on Saturday, Alcantara took it upon himself, per usual, to go as deep as possible. He also was aware of how close he was to the strikeout milestone, but didn’t push for it.
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.
“He's the guy,” rookie catcher Joe Mack said. “We call him ‘Caballo’ [horse] for a reason. He's out there pitching his heart out, and he's out there doing as best as he can, learning from every single game. … I've always looked up to him, too, ever since I got drafted [in 2021], so it was a goal of mine for sure to be his teammate and catch him. It's pretty cool.”
Six members of Miami’s lineup, meanwhile, drove in a run to back Alcantara.
Fellow countryman and All-Star hopeful Otto Lopez, who tallied an RBI and bunted for a hit during the go-ahead four-run seventh, remembers keeping tabs on Alcantara before joining Miami. Alcantara’s reputation preceded him, and has been surpassed while sharing a clubhouse.
“Even when he first started with St. Louis, it was already like a big deal, so just to see his whole career from now on, it's amazing, to be part of the same team right now,” Lopez said.
Added Marlins manager Clayton McCullough: “That's what he's done his entire career here in Miami. … He means a ton to this organization, and it's great for a lot of our younger players. They aspire to stay in this league long enough to be able to reach some of the milestones like he has, and he will reach here in the near future. He goes about it in such a professional way, and he handles everything with class. In so many ways, he's a great ambassador for our organization.”