Sloppy defense, off night from Sandy Alcantara result in Marlins being swept by Mets
Sandy Alcantara had a rare off night. Patchy defense behind him didn’t help either.
The combination, along with a couple missed opportunities on offense, played a key role in the Miami Marlins’ 4-3 loss to the New York Mets on Thursday to give the Mets a series sweep. The Mets won both games of Tuesday’s doubleheader 3-1 and 4-3. Wednesday’s game was postponed. Miami is 55-79.
Alcantara gave up four runs on eight hits over 6 1/3 innings. It was just the sixth time this season through 28 starts that Alcantara has given up at least four earned runs.
“I was missing a lot,” Alcantara said.
The defense behind him committed a season-high four errors, two of which played factors in runs scoring.
In the fourth, Brandon Nimmo led off with a single but advanced to second on an Isan Diaz throwing error from third base. Nimmo scored one at-bat later on a Francisco Lindor RBI double. Lindor eventually scored on an Alcantara balk.
And in the seventh, Jeff McNeil moved from first to third when Jesus Sanchez bobbled a Patrick Mazeika line drive in right field and scored the go-ahead run when a Dominic Smith line drive bounced past Jesus Aguilar’s extended glove and into right field.
“I barely touched it,” Aguilar said. “He kind of hit it good. It’s hard to see those land with two strikes. He kind of got lucky over there. I’m not saying he’s not a good hitter. I thought I had time to catch it, but that ball just passed me.”
Miguel Rojas and Bryan De La Cruz also each had errors in the eighth.
“We talk about our pitching a lot,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said, “and that means we’ve got to play good defense behind them and limit the chances the other team gets. We’re going to be scratching for runs in general. There’s times we’re going to score, but when you force guys into more pitches, it just gives the other team more chances. ... I feel like we’ve been pretty solid [on defense], but today was a little bit of an anomaly.”
Miami went 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position and got just one run in the sixth when they had the bases loaded and one out. Rojas, who previously hit a leadoff home run in the first, led off with a single before Jesus Aguilar, Sanchez and Lewis Brinson drew three consecutive walks to bring Rojas in as the tying run.
But Sandy Leon, pinch hitting for Diaz, struck out and Jorge Alfaro grounded out against Aaron Loup to end the inning.
“It was a chance to turn that game,” Mattingly said. “Isan had not look very good at the plate. Felt like we were gonna take a shot there to try to kick some runs across. That’s their one lefty in the [bullpen]. They usually don’t use him much more than an inning. We knew we’d get a right-handed shot they’re trying to bump something. ... Really just trying to go for a big inning there.”
Rojas part of MLB history
Rojas and New York Mets third baseman Jonathan Villar each hit first-pitch leadoff home runs at Citi Field. It marked the first time in a game that both teams’ leadoff men have hit first-pitch homers since MLB started tracking pitch counts in 1988.
Rojas sent a 94.8 mph fastball from Mets pitcher Carlos Carrasco a projected 401 feet to left field. It was Rojas’ eighth home run of the season and third leadoff home run in 2021. It was also the first time in Rojas’ career that he hit a home run on the first pitch of a game. The Marlins added a second run in the inning when Aguilar drove in Jazz Chisholm Jr., who doubled and reached third on a fielding error.
Villar sent a 94.3 mph fastball from Alcantara a projected 431 feet to right field for his 17th home run of the season.
Rogers, Panik back
The Marlins filled out their expanded roster for the final month of the regular season by bringing back a pair of players who have been sidelined for more than a month.
The two returnees: left-handed starting pitcher Trevor Rogers, who missed two weeks while dealing with a family emergency and then spent last week rehabbing with Class A Jupiter, and infielder Joe Panik, who had been on the injured list for undisclosed reasons since Aug. 13.
Rogers’ return is the most notable. The 23-year-old was the Marlins’ lone All-Star this year and was a frontrunner for the National League Rookie of the Year award before he briefly stepped away from the team after both his parents tested positive for COVID-19 (both have since recovered although his mom was briefly on a ventilator). Rogers has a 2.45 ERA over 111 innings spanning 20 starts this season. He has struck out 129 batters and opponents are hitting just .212 against him this year.
Rogers’ next scheduled start is tentatively on Saturday against the Philadelphia Phillies, with Jesus Luzardo pitching the series opener on Friday and Elieser Hernandez going on Sunday.
Panik has primarily been a bench bat for the Marlins since being acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays in late June. He has played in 31 games with 18 starts and is hitting .171 with one double, one home run, four RBI and six runs scored in 87 plate appearances with Miami.
Plan with Zach Thompson
Because the Marlins-Mets game on Wednesday was postponed due to inclement weather, the Marlins skipped right-handed pitcher Zach Thompson’s turn in the rotation.
And for the time being, Thompson’s time in the rotation is over.
Mattingly said they are moving Thompson to the bullpen to fill the role that John Curtiss had before he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers — a middle reliever who has the potential to throw multiple innings.
“We want to see what that looks like,” Mattingly said.
The 27-year-old rookie has started 13 games for the Marlins this season, recording a 3.16 ERA with 52 strikeouts against 22 walks and a .209 batting average against in 62 2/3 innings.
But with the Marlins’ rotation returning to full strength — they already have a five-man group in Alcantara, Cabrera, Rogers, Luzardo and Hernandez while remaining cautiously optimistic that Pablo Lopez might return by the end of the season —Thompson was the odd man out.
This and that
▪ Third baseman Brian Anderson is day-to-day with a shoulder injury.
▪ The Marlins on Thursday activated reliever Paul Campbell from the injured list and designated for assignment reliever Austin Pruitt to make space on the active roster.
This story was originally published September 2, 2021 at 10:11 PM.
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