MIAMI -- Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara collected his first win in 18 months, though not in his usual fashion, in Tuesday night¡¯s 4-2 victory over the Mets at loanDepot park.
Alcantara, who beat the Nationals on Sept. 3, 2023, in his final start before Tommy John surgery, allowed two runs on three hits with four strikeouts across five innings in his second start back.
"Mentally I feel well, also physically,¡± Alcantara said in Spanish. ¡°There¡¯s some things happening that make me take more time to recover between starts, but like I said before, if I can compete throwing 92-93 [mph], I¡¯ll take it, you know. You just have to thank God for these things that happen, and if this is the result today, at the end of the day we won.¡±
The 29-year-old Alcantara needed just nine pitches to dispose of the Mets in the first on a trio of groundouts, two of which broke bats. He then surrendered a leadoff homer to Brandon Nimmo in the second and an RBI single to Francisco Lindor in the third. Alcantara retired the next eight batters to end his outing.
But his average four-seam velocity (96.2 mph) was down compared with Spring Training, when he reached triple digits, and Opening Day (98.2 mph). He maxed out at 98.3 mph, compared with 99.8 mph in the season opener.
Calling his pitches for the second straight start, Alcantara pivoted his strategy in the second inning due to what Tuesday¡¯s arsenal provided. He turned to his four-seamer (17.1%) and sinker (22.9%) less than his changeup (31.4%) and breaking pitches (28.5%).
¡°He kind of took a dip a little bit, but it was still moving really, really well, and you could tell the guys were still getting jammed on his sinker, and were still capping his slider,¡± catcher Nick Fortes said. ¡°He still had good movement. It¡¯s just the velo wasn't there.¡±
Then came the surprising move of pulling Alcantara, who carries a workhorse reputation, after just five frames and 70 pitches with the Mets¡¯ lineup turning over for the third time in a 4-2 ballgame. In his season debut, Alcantara ran out of steam with two outs in the fifth.
The last time Alcantara threw fewer than 70 pitches in a start was on May 14, 2021, at Dodger Stadium, where he was chased after giving up eight runs in 1 1/3 innings. The last time he had a two-start stretch in the same season when he was taken out so early was in 2019 -- July 31 (4 2/3 IP) and Aug. 5 (5 IP).
¡°It was a surprise to me, but they saw something different from me,¡± Alcantara said. ¡°I've got to take it, so I've got to respect those people out there, their decision, especially the manager. First time as a manager. I've got to respect that. It is what it is. And we win. So we've got to celebrate today.¡±
Added manager Clayton McCullough: ¡°You just felt like the way that thing was going, we're still counting on Sandy to throw a lot of innings. It was just more tonight what I was watching and seeing and felt like he had kind of emptied it and given us everything he had tonight, and [those five innings] there, going with what he did was the best decision for our team tonight to win.
¡°The velo was probably more like mid-90s [mph], more 94s than the first one, so much adrenaline also coming off that high of the first one and everything. So I think that was just kind of how I was watching it in real time ... and he still pitched great and used his other stuff very well. I think it'll be a process for him, just as he continues to keep rolling here as he comes back.¡±
It turned out to be the right decision, as four Marlins relievers combined to shut down the Mets over the final four frames.
¡°It's going to be a process,¡± McCullough said. ¡°I felt Sandy pitched his butt off and competed, like he always does. He was itching to go back out there for the sixth. I just felt like [the] game state ¡ I just made that decision there to go with our bullpen there. I feel like he gave us everything he had tonight through five and felt very confident [with] what we had coming in behind him.¡±