Miami Marlins’ seven-game win streak snapped in series finale loss to Seattle Mariners
Sandy Alcantara needed one more out to finish the top of the sixth inning Friday and keep the Miami Marlins’ deficit against the Seattle Mariners at just two runs.
That out never came.
He gave up a double to J.P. Crawford to put a runner in scoring position. Marlins manager Don Mattingly then called for an intentional walk of Abraham Toro.
And then came the dagger.
Julio Rodriguez, the third-ranked prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline, sent a 97 mph sinker on the inner edge of the strike zone a projected 450 feet for a three-run home run — the first of Rodriguez’s young MLB career.
“When you mess up, you pay,” Alcantara said, “and he got it.”
Alcantara’s day was done. The Marlins’ win streak ended shortly afterward.
Alcantara’s rough start coupled with the offense not getting going until it was too late resulted in the Marlins’ 7-3 loss to the Mariners on Sunday at loanDepot park. The Marlins (12-9) had won seven consecutive games prior to the loss, including 8-6 and 3-1 victories over the Mariners (12-11) on Friday and Saturday to clinch the three-game series before falling in the finale.
All told, Alcantara gave up five earned runs on six hits — including a pair of home runs — and four walks while striking out six over 5 2/3 innings.
Alcantara has a 2.90 ERA through his first five starts, but opponents are hitting .243 against him and he has a 4.06 walks per nine inning rate (14 walks in 31 innings).
“I don’t think we’ve seen the best Sandy at this point,” Mattingly said. “He’s always good. He always looks good for the most part because he always gets through things and he battles, but I don’t think he’s been extremely sharp yet.”
Crawford hit a solo home run in the second to give Seattle the early lead. Toro’s RBI single in the fourth that scored Jesse Winker made doubled the Mariners’ lead to 2-0 before Rodriguez’s home run in the sixth. Seattle tacked on two more runs in the ninth inning against Zach Pop.
The Marlins, meanwhile, were stymied early on by Mariners starting pitcher Logan Gilbert, who came into the game with just one earned run allowed through his first four starts. Miami didn’t get a hit until Jon Berti and Garrett Cooper had back-to-back singles in the fifth. The didn’t break up the shutout until Brian Anderson hit a solo home run in the sixth.
“The kid’s got a great arm. He was electric today,” Anderson said. “I was looking for a mistake, something out over the plate [on the sixth-inning home run]. ... He didn’t make many mistakes today and he’s got a really good fastball. It gets on you really well. We just weren’t able to get to him quick enough.”
Jorge Soler drove in each of Miami’s other two runs with an RBI single through the right side to beat the shift that scored Berti and a 451-foot solo home run in the ninth.
The Marlins left 12 runners on base and went just 2 for 9 with runners in scoring position.
Decisions to make
MLB rosters shrink from 28 players to 26 starting Monday. That includes the maximum number of pitchers on a team’s active roster dropping from 15 to no more than 14.
That means the Marlins will have to trim either two pitchers or one pitcher and one position player from its active roster before they begin their three-game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
This story was originally published May 1, 2022 at 5:03 PM.
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