Marlins walk off in extras against Braves to salvage strong start from Sandy Alcantara
Martin Prado, even with butterflies in his stomach, tried to remain his ever calm, stoic self as he stepped to the plate in the 10th inning.
The game was in his hands.
And with a sacrifice fly that lofted deep enough into left field, the Miami Marlins’ veteran infielder sealed the Marlins’ 7-6, come-from-behind, walk-off victory over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday night at Marlins Park in front of a season-high 29,720 fans. The Marlins (44-72) have won two of three against the Braves (69-50) and can take the four-game series with a win in Sunday’s 1:10 p.m. finale.
All 13 runs on Saturday were scored after seven scoreless innings.
Prado’s fly ball scored Harold Ramirez, who led off the inning with a single and quickly made it to third when Braves reliever Sean Newcomb’s failed pickoff attempt sailed past first baseman Freddie Freeman.
“That’s the type of game that you look back and go ‘Wow. Baseball is a beautiful thing,’” Prado said. “To be able to come through for my team, I was trying not to show emotion, but I got those butterflies in my stomach.”
It capped a wild comeback for the Marlins, who trailed 6-2 heading into the bottom of the ninth and put together a furious rally to get within striking distance.
Prado, Bryan Holaday and Curtis Granderson each hit one-out singles in the ninth to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate.
Jon Berti then hit a single to center to bring home Prado. 6-3.
Isan Diaz hit a single off shortstop Charlie Culberson’s glove to bring home Holaday. 6-4.
Castro hit a two-run, game-tying double that scored Granderson and Berti. Diaz was thrown out trying to make it from first to home. 6-6.
Brian Anderson walked before Garrett Cooper grounded out to force extra innings, where Prado and Ramirez ultimately sealed it.
Saturday, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, marked the first time the Marlins scored at least four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to force extra innings and ultimately win the game.
“It feels great,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “... Our guys came out and got their hits.”
It salvaged was a needed turning of the page for starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara, who had struggled over the past month. The hard-throwing 23-year-old righty had given up 21 earned runs over 26 2/3 innings — good for a 7.09 ERA — over his first five starts since playing in the All-Star Game. He gave up four earned runs or more in three of those starts and didn’t make it past the sixth inning in any of the outings.
On Saturday, Alcantara returned to form.
He was on the attack. He pounded the strike zone. He got ahead in counts, forced soft contact and showcased his talent from the start.
This was the Alcantara the Miami Marlins want to see.
A nine-pitch first inning set the tone. He allowed no more than one baserunner in each of the next six innings.
It was reminiscent of his eight shutout innings against the Colorado Rockies in his first start of season, or his complete-game shutout against the New York Mets back on May 19, or his 7 2/3 dominant innings against the Philadelphia Phillies on June 21 — the type of outings that show why he was selected to be the Marlins’ All-Star representative this year.
And, at the very end, he got just enough help for the Marlins to leave the ballpark with a win.
The Braves did all their damage on Alcantara with two outs in the eighth inning. Alcantara had Culberson on second base following a single and Ronald Acuna Jr on first after an intentional walk.
On his seventh pitch of the at-bat — and 106th and final pitch of the night — Albies hit a shallow line drive past shortstop Deven Marrero for an RBI double to score Culberson and break open a scoreless tie.
Albies and Acuna scored on a first-pitch single by Freddie Freeman off reliever Jarlin Garcia. Both runs were charged to Alcantara since he put them on base.
Johan Camargo gave the Braves breathing room with a two-out, pinch-hit, three-run home run in the ninth off Ryne Stanek, who walked Brian McCann and Ender Inciarte earlier in the inning and gave up four total walks before being pulled for Jose Quijada after recording just two outs.
The Marlins, who only had four hits and two runners make it to scoring position through the first seven innings against Braves starter Mike Soroka, then attempted to rally against Atlanta’s bullpen. Granderson belted a one-out, pinch-hit home run to avoid the shutout. Berti singled and Diaz walked before Starlin Castro flew out to right field for the second out. Brian Anderson’s RBI single got the Marlins within one run, but Garrett Cooper struck out swinging to end the frame before Camargo’s home run set the Braves up for what they thought would be their second consecutive win.
But those four runs in the bottom half of the inning gave the Marlins control for good.
This story was originally published August 10, 2019 at 9:45 PM.
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