MIAMI – Marlins ace and workhorse Sandy Alcantara retook 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.
Alcantara allowed just one run over seven frames, scattering five hits – all singles – with one walk and a season-high-tying seven strikeouts. Despite 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.
Standout defense behind Alcantara helped him thwart possible rallies and limit the damage in a 90-pitch outing.
In the fourth, Gold Glove-winning utility player Javier Sanoja started an around-the-horn double play. 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 end the frame.
Three innings later, Alcantara struck out former teammate Victor Mesa Jr. swinging and rookie catcher Joe Mack threw out Mullins trying to steal after an overturn on a replay review.
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.
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 Ray front-office member, is trying to build in Miami.