‘Today wasn’t the day’: Alcantara gives up go-ahead run in Dominican Republic loss to Venezuela
This was supposed to be his moment, in his ballpark, representing his country.
Sandy Alcantara dreamed of this day, being the ace for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. He longed for it before he signed his first professional baseball contract, before he made his Major League debut, before he became an Opening Day starter, a two-time All-Star and, eventually, a Cy Young Award winner with the Miami Marlins.
The opportunity finally came Saturday in one of the marquee matchups of the opening round of this year’s Classic: The Dominican Republic vs Venezuela in a sold-out loanDepot park with an atmosphere reminiscent of a playoff game.
Alcantara did his part for three innings, wowing at times and maneuvering out of jams in others.
But in the fourth inning, his luck ran out and so did the Dominican Republic team’s as a whole in a 5-1 loss to Venezuela to begin pool play.
“Today,” Alcantara said, “wasn’t the day.”
Alcantara ultimately gave up three runs on five hits and three walks over 3 2/3 innings. He threw 62 pitches, 42 of which landed for strikes.
Venezuela manager Omar Lopez constructed his lineup so that they can “capitalize if he makes a mistake.”
Two big mistakes, both with two outs, ultimately did Alcantara in.
The first came in the second inning. Alcantara left a 98.9 mph sinker over the heart of the plate for Anthony Santander, who sent the pitch a projected 393 feet to right field to tie the game at 1-1.
The other came in that fourth inning, when David Peralta capitalized by sending a middle-middle slider to right field for a two-run single on Alcantara’s 64th and final pitch of the night. Pitchers are capped at 65 pitches during pool play.
“He was two pitches away from throwing a really, really good shutout game,” Dominican Republic manager Rodney Linares said. “He threw that front-door sinker to Santander for the home run, and then he threw the 1-2 pitch for the slider that went right to his barrel, and he got the base hit.”
While he wasn’t his prototypical self with his command, Alcantara battled to keep his country in the game as long as he could.
“He is a Cy Young Award winner. He is our guy,” Linares said. “We’re going to give him every chance to get it.”
And, for his part, Alcantara did minimize a lot of self-inflicted damage.
He got Ronald Acuna Jr. to hit into a pair of double plays, the second of which helped get him out of a two-on, no-out jam in the third after he walked Peralta and Jose Altuve.
But he couldn’t work his magic again in the fourth.
Venezuela loaded the bases with no outs on a Salvador Perez double to left that was just out of reach of a leaping Manny Machado, a Gleyber Torres walk and an Andres Gimenez single to center field.
Alcantara nearly got out of the jam by getting Santander to pop out and striking out Eugenio Suarez.
Peralta had other plans and sent Alcantara to the dugout after giving Venezuela the hit it needed to take the lead for good and beat the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic for the first time in five tries.
While the outing stings in the moment, Alcantara is also looking long-term.
Success in the World Baseball Classic is nice. So is representing his country.
But his real season begins in two-and-a-half weeks, when the Marlins open the 2023 season against the New York Mets.
“I’ve got to be healthy,” Alcantara said. “I’m pitching for my country, but at the same time, I’ve got to be smart. ... During the season, I want to have 32, 33 starts, so I’m giving 100 percent for my country because it’s something that will help me prepare for the season.”
And Alcantara knows the Dominican Republic’s success goes beyond him. The DR has three more pool play games: Monday against Nicaragua, Tuesday against Israel and Wednesday against Puerto Rico. They still have a chance to advance to the quarterfinals even though the opening loss does make the path slightly tougher.
“We feel good,” Alcantara said, “because we know that we’re going to have another opportunity to win.”
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