Sandy Alcantara’s struggles continue as Marlins drop back-to-back games vs. Blue Jays
If only Sandy was Sandy.
The Miami Marlins have been much better this season, pushing as high as 11 games over the .500 mark, holding the top Wild Card spot in the National League and even putting pressure on the surging Atlanta Braves in the NL East.
Imagine how much more they could accomplish if their ace Sandy Alcantara was still pitching like he did during last year’s Cy Young season…or even close to that.
Instead, Alcantara is still looking for those kinds of results.
On Wednesday, most of Alcantara’s start during a 6-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays wasn’t bad as he lasted seven innings overall.
But a dismal second inning, during which he allowed all five of his runs on six hits, sent the Marlins (42-33) to their second consecutive loss to Toronto.
Alcantara said after the game he took no silver lining from the performance.
“I don’t know. I don’t see anything different,” Alcantara said. “I want to be able to attack the hitters, but they just took advantage today. I just have to keep positive and go out next outing and try to give my best.”
It was the fifth start this season for Alcantara in which he allowed at least five earned runs including three of the past four starts. He had only three in which he allowed that much all of last season.
Alcantara fell to 2-6 on the season with a 5.08 ERA.
“I actually thought that was an encouraging start,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “I didn’t love the five-run second and he didn’t love it. I thought he had some trouble getting the ball in the location he wanted that particular inning, but I thought he navigated through that lineup more efficiently after that.
“But I felt like this was something we can build on moving forward.”
The nightmarish second inning began with back-to-back doubles by Matt Chapman and Cavan Biggio. Two batters later, Kevin Keirmaier singled home another run, and two batters after that, George Springer drove in two more. Whit Merrifield followed with an RBI single. Alcantara had some misfortune as well on the Springer hit, which bounced over third baseman Garrett Hampson with the drawn-in infield.
“I think I kept my mind in the game,” Alcantara said. “There was a lot of soft contact today. Some broken bats so I just have to stay confident in myself.”
Alcantara remarkably settled in and pitched five scoreless innings after that frame. He gave up 10 hits overall, struck out six and walked two.
“I felt like his pitches were where he wanted them,” Schumaker said. “He changed the eye level when he wanted to. He wasn’t living in the happy zone where the hitters liked it. He got the ball down better in the fifth through seventh inning…The slider was where he wanted it and he was more Sandy-like the majority of those innings.”
Despite Alcantara’s recent struggles, the Marlins had been able to win three of his past four starts.
Garrett Cooper’s two-run double in the fourth and Garrett Hampson’s run-scoring single in the seventh cut the deficit to 5-3. But Chapman’s solo homer in the eighth pushed Toronto’s lead back to three runs.
This story was originally published June 21, 2023 at 2:38 PM.
