Zac Gallen out-duels Sandy Alcantara as Marlins drop series finale against Diamondbacks
Sandy Alcantara was good for five innings on Sunday before running into trouble in the sixth. Zac Gallen was nearly unhittable from start to finish.
That made all the difference in the Miami Marlins’ 5-0 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks at loanDepot park to cap a three-game series. The loss snapped the Marlins’ four-game win streak and dropped them to 8-8 on the season. Arizona is now 9-7. It was the first shutout loss for the Marlins this season.
Gallen, who the Marlins acquired in the same trade with the St. Louis Cardinals as Alcantara in December 2017 and then traded to the Diamondbacks in 2019 for Jazz Chisholm Jr., was stellar over 6 2/3 shutout innings.
He retired the first 13 batters he faced before giving up a one-out single to Bryan De La Cruz in the fifth and hitting Avisail Garcia with a pitch. The only other hit he allowed was a Jorge Soler double in the seventh. Gallen struck out seven and did not issue a walk.
“He’s had a nice run in his career,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “He’s a really good pitcher. Probably underrated. ... He’s just grown into a top-end starter in the league.”
Alcantara, meanwhile, held his own for his first five innings on Sunday. He allowed just one run in that span on an Alek Thomas RBI single in the second that scored Corbin Carroll, who led off the inning with a double to left that De La Cruz misplayed.
But Arizona capitalized in the sixth. Josh Rojas reached second to lead off the inning when Alcantara failed to properly field a ball while covering first base. Geraldo Perdomo hit a sacrifice bunt to move Rojas to third and then the Diamondbacks followed with three consecutive run-scoring hits: a Pavin Smith RBI single, a Christian Walker RBI double and a Carroll two-run home run.
Alcantara said the misplay defensively had him “frustrated.”
“It let them take a chance on me,” Alcantara said. “They jumped on me. ... For me, I always get mad. I just want to make that play over there at first base. Nice play by Cooper; not by me. I just got my mind a little bit out of control.”
Alcantara, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, still struck out nine and did not issue a walk. Through four starts this season, he has a 5.84 ERA — giving up 17 runs (16 earned) over 24 2/3 innings. This includes tossing a shutout.
Miami won the first two games of the series 5-1 on Friday and 3-2 on Saturday.
George Soriano’s debut
Right-handed pitcher George Soriano, the Marlins’ No. 26 overall prospect according to MLB Pipeline, made his MLB debut on Sunday. He pitched three scoreless innings while allowing just one hit and striking out two batters — Carroll and Nick Ahmed, both of whom swung through sliders.
“It was a long journey,” said Soriano, who signed with the Marlins as an international free agent in 2015. “A lot of injuries. A lot of setbacks and getting better, but here we are.”
Avisail Garcia exits
Outfielder Avisail Garcia left the game in the middle of his seventh-inning at-bat after being hit on the right wrist on a pitch he swung at on a 1-1 count.
The Marlins are calling the injury a contusion. His X-rays were negative.
Jesus Sanchez completed the at-bat and then replaced Garcia defensively in right field.
Up next
The Marlins continue their homestand with a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants.
The projected starting pitching matchups for the series are as follows: Jesus Luzardo (2-0, 1.93) against Alex Wood (0-1, 1.17) on Monday, Edward Cabrera (0-1, 4.63) against Alex Cobb (0-1, 3.14) on Tuesday and Trevor Rogers (1-2, 4.20) against a to-be-determined Giants starter on Wednesday.
This story was originally published April 16, 2023 at 3:52 PM.
.JPG)