A rough fourth inning from Marlins’ Sandy Alcantara leads to blowout loss against Rockies
All Sandy Alcantara could do was look up and watch.
C.J. Cron sent Alcantara’s 88.3 mph slider — his 36th pitch of the fourth inning, his 75th pitch of the game, his final pitch of the night — a projected 456 feet to left field for a three-run home run. Alcantara stood there stoic as Cron rounded the bases for the second time, the third home run he gave up.
And then, he made the slow walk to the dugout as acting manager James Rowson walked to the mound and took the ball from his ace.
There was no coming back at that point for the Miami Marlins, who lost to the Colorado Rockies 14-2 on Friday at Coors Field to begin a three-game series. Miami is 47-63. Colorado is 49-61.
“Tough night for Sandy obviously tonight,” Rowson said.
And Alcantara was understandably upset with himself. He’s the leader of the Marlins’ rotation, the one expected to put up a quality start every fifth game.
That didn’t happen on Friday.
Alcantara gave up a career-high 10 runs on 10 hits (the second-most he has ever allowed in a game), two walks and a hit by pitch while striking out just two over 3 2/3 innings. He also gave up three home runs for the third time in his career and the first time since July 31, 2019. Eleven of the 20 balls the Rockies put in play against Alcantara had an exit velocity of at least 99.6 mph.
“This was a really bad outing,” Alcantara said. “I know I can do better.”
Eight of those 10 runs he gave up came in the fourth, which unfolded as follows:
▪ Alcantara hit Cron with a 96.7 mph sinker to leadoff the inning.
▪ Elias Diaz hit a sharp ground ball up the middle to Jazz Chisholm Jr., who had no play. Infield single.
▪ Sam Hillard sent a changeup to right-center field for an RBI double. Cron scored. Rockies lead 3-0.
▪ Alcantara then recorded his first two outs of the inning, a pair of groundouts to German Marquez and Raimel Tapia, although Tapia’s grounder scored Diaz. Rockies lead 4-0.
▪ Brendan Rodgers bloops a soft line drive into right field for an RBI single. Hillard scores. Rockies lead 5-0.
▪ Charlie Blackmon sends a 1-0 slider 386 feet to left field for a two-run home run. Rockies lead 7-0.
▪ Trevor Story hits a double to left field and Ryan McMahon draws a full-count walk before Cron hits his second home run of the game. 10-0 Rockies. Alcantara’s night is over.
Unlike Alcantara’s other rough outing this season — when he gave up eight runs in just 1 1/3 innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers — Alcantara doesn’t believe he was tipping pitches on Friday. Simply stated, his command was just off.
“I was missing in the middle,” Alcantara said. “When you miss in the middle, they hit you.”
Steven Okert, who replaced Alcantara in the fourth, also gave up a solo home run, a 439-foot shot to Elias Diaz, before getting out of the inning.
Now, the Marlins’ offense didn’t fare much better. They didn’t record a hit until Bryan De La Cruz’s one-out single in the fifth and didn’t score a run until the seventh when Magneuris Sierra’s infield single scored Joe Panik from third. Miguel Rojas hit a solo home run in the eighth.
Catcher Sandy Leon pitched the eighth inning, giving up three runs on four hits (including a two-run home run from McMahon) while recording a strikeout.
This story was originally published August 6, 2021 at 11:33 PM.
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