Forgettable fourth inning sours Alcantara start as Marlins fall to Astros
Sandy Alcantara breezed through the first nine batters he faced Monday night, stretching his scoreless streak to 15 innings.
Then came a fourth inning he’d rather forget.
Five runs, six hits, and a wild pitch, to boot.
The Marlins right-hander eventually settled down and struck out the last two Astros he faced in the fourth, but the damage was done. As in several other rough starts this season, one inning cost him — and the Marlins.
Javier Sanoja and Derek Hill smacked back-to-back pinch-hit home runs to lead off the seventh inning, but it wasn’t nearly enough in the Marlins’ 8-2 loss to the Astros to open a three-game series at loanDepot park.
The Marlins (55–56) fell back below .500 one day after evening their record by completing their first-ever sweep of the Yankees.
The Astros seized control Monday with four consecutive hits to start the fourth inning, including an RBI double by former Marlin Jesús Sánchez. Yanier Diaz doubled in two runs, and Carlos Correa had an RBI single in the inning as well.
“It’s an aggressive offense, a good offense, and they strung some hits together there,” said Marlins manager Clayton McCullough. “For the most part, it worked out tonight. They just had a way that inning to push [runs] across and spread some hits around.”
Alcantara pitched seven innings, allowing six runs and nine hits. He struck out five and walked one.
“I’ll come here [Tuesday] with a fresh mentality, watch the video and see what I can take positive from there, just prepare myself for my next outing,” Alcantara said. “Go out there and do my best like always. But today wasn’t my day.”
The Marlins, meanwhile, couldn’t solve Astros starter Jason Alexander. The right-hander allowed only three hits in six innings and struck out six.
“He really sped us up,” McCullough said. “The change-up was a really good pitch for him. He struck with his sweeper some early in the count and had his sinker. We had a tough time getting the ball off the ground off him. Some guys just seemed like they were caught in between some and he really did have a good feel for his changeup. … We just didn’t adjust to things well enough.”
In the seventh, McCullough had Sanoja hit for Jakob Marsee. It worked. The 5-foot-7, 150-pound Sanoja homered for the third time in six at-bats, launching reliever Bryan King’s pitch 420 feet to left center.
McCullough then swapped Troy Johnston with Hill, newly reinstated from the 10-day injured list (finger), and Hill drilled King’s offering 380 feet to left.
“Power surge from Sanoja,” McCullough said, referring to his recent pop at the plate. He added, “To tell you that I thought it was going to be back-to-back homers, I can’t say that, but thinking they’d go up there, and at least try to get some people on base, mount a rally, and chip away into the deficit as much as we could.”
The homers by Sanoja and Hill marked the first time any MLB teammates hit back-to-back pinch-hit home runs since the Giants’ Alen Hanson and Chris Shaw did it on Sept. 30, 2018. It was also just the second time in Marlins history — the only other instance came on June 22, 2006, when Joe Borchard and Wes Helms opened the top of the ninth with pinch-hit homers against the Orioles.
Before those long balls, the highlight of the night for the Marlins was Marsee’s diving catch in center during the fifth inning that robbed Sánchez of a hit.
“Terrific play, great jump, well-timed dive, really nice play,” McCullough said. “That’s going to need to be a big strength of ours is having some athletic guys that can run, defend, and make plays, and he showcased that this evening.”
THIS AND THAT
-Outfielder Joey Wiemer was claimed off waivers from the Royals and optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville.
-Infielder Jack Winkler was designated for assignment.
-Third baseman Connor Norby (wrist) and outfielder Griffin Conine (shoulder) have increased baseball activities.
This story was originally published August 4, 2025 at 10:17 PM.