Alcantara struggles to find form, but Marlins’ offense breaks out in 7-6 victory against Nationals
Sandy Alcantara wasn’t satisfied with his outing.
Too many walks, he pointed out.
Alcantara surrendered four of them to the Nationals on Saturday in his first start since April 1. He also gave up four earned runs in the Marlins’ 7-6 triumph at loanDepot park and didn’t have command of his fastball.
So no, the Marlins’ ace wasn’t at his best in his first appearance since returning from paternity leave Thursday — three days after his daughter’ birth. But his slider was working, his sinker was reliable as usual and he threw a couple of cutters with success. It was a productive 5 2/3 innings pitched.
“It’s not how I want it,” Alcantara noted, “but at the end of the day, we win, so that’s what we’re always looking for. I just want to keep getting better.”
With an open roof welcoming sunshine, and an announced crowd of 18,469 watching, the Marlins (7-7) moved back to .500 with contributions from multiple players — Kyle Stowers and Griffin Conine had two RBI apiece; Xavier Edwards, had two hits and two stolen bases; and relievers Ronny Henriquez and Calvin Faucher combined for two clean innings to close out the game.
The Marlins improved to 5-2 this season following a loss.
“I don’t feel like we’ve been out of any game, even the losses,” Conine said. “We always know we’re going to bounce back as an offense, and defensively as well.”
The Marlins scored their final runs — three in the fifth inning and one in the sixth — with two outs.
“Offensively, we were very good,” said Marlins’ manager Clayton McCullough. “Some big hits. I feel like it was spread out pretty well throughout the lineup. …You see the margin for error to win games here can be very small. When you have a chance to tack on runs in the middle innings, it’s important.”
As for Alcantara, McCullough noted, “he got us deep into the game,” and added, “his stuff looked good. A lot of his misses were of high quality.”
Alcantara, who earned his second win of the season, walked Alex Call on four consecutive balls to start the game. Then he got into a groove. He retired the next eight batters, including the first five of those on ground balls, before walking Call again to start the fourth inning.
James Woods then ended Alcantara’s no-hit bid with an infield single. Woods was called safe on a close play at first, and the call stood after replay review.
The Nationals were just getting started.
Keibert Ruiz singled to right to load the bases and Alcantara walked Nathaniel Lowe for the Nationals’ first run. Former Marlins teammate Josh Bell followed with a two-run double off the left-field wall to knot the score.
The Marlins struck back the next inning.
After Edwards and Stowers smacked back-to-back singles, Nationals starter Trevor Williams retired Otto Lopez on a pop out to shallow center and struck out Matt Mervis, bringing designated hitter Eric Wagaman to the plate with two outs.
Wagaman, who was hitless in his previous 12 at-bats and 5-for-34 (.156) for the season, stroked a double to left field to score Edwards. Conine then crushed a two-run double to right off reliever Colin Poche for a 6-3 lead.
Alcantara started the sixth by surrendering a single and walk. Then with two outs, Amed Rosario smacked an RBI single. Reliever Jesús Tinoco relieved Alcantara at that point.
“I’m getting better day by day,” Alcantara said. “Let’s see my next outing when they increase my pitch count.”
After Stowers’ RBI double in the bottom of the sixth, the Nationals scored two runs in the seventh — both with Anthony Veneziano on the mound and credited to Tinoco. But Henriquez and Faucher shut the door.
“That was probably the best Calvin’s looked this year, and Ronny had a really good inning,” McCullough said.
The Marlins, who seized a four-run lead Friday before losing 7-4, jumped ahead early Saturday as well. Mervis belted a 380-foot home run to right in the second inning — his team-leading fourth homer of the season. And in the third, Stowers hit a sacrifice fly and Graham Pauley raced home on a wild pitch.
▪ Before the game, Tinoco was reinstated from the injured list. Fellow right-hander Luarbert Arias was optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville.
▪ Edwards notched at least two steals in a game for the 10th time in his career.
This story was originally published April 12, 2025 at 9:56 PM.