Marlins Ace Alcantara Shuts Down Athletics Lineup

Sandy Alcantara looked like an ace Miami would want to keep for the foreseeable future as he pulled up an absolute stellar performance for the Marlins against the Athletics.

With trade rumors continuing to swirl around the former Cy Young winner, Alcantara delivered another dominant outing Saturday night, shutting down the Athletics across eight brilliant innings in the Marlins’ 7-2 victory at Sutter Health Park.

The right-hander allowed just one run on six hits while striking out eight and walking one in a vintage performance that continued his remarkable turnaround over the last month.

“Everything was working tonight,” Alcantara said afterward. “Tonight, I think was my best night because all the pitches were working.”

The outing extended Alcantara’s personal winning streak to seven games while helping Miami improve to 48-42 on the season. The Marlins now sit six games above .500 and remain firmly in the National League Wild Card race.

After entering the year surrounded by speculation about a possible trade, Alcantara is once again pitching like one of the best starters in baseball.

Over his last seven starts, the star pitcher owns a 2.98 ERA and has lowered his season ERA from 4.66 to 4.00. He also surpassed Cristopher Sanchez for the most innings pitched in MLB this season with 123.

Athletics manager Mark Kotsay had no shortage of praise after watching Alcantara carve through Oakland’s lineup.

“This was an exhibition by Alcantara,” Kotsay said. “He had everything going.”

Miami’s offense provided plenty of support once again. Rookie catcher Joe Mack opened the scoring in the third inning with a solo home run before Otto Lopez continued his All-Star campaign with another massive night at the plate.

Fresh off being named to the National League All-Star team, Lopez launched a two-run homer later in the inning to give Miami a 3-0 lead. He added an RBI double in the fifth before finishing the game with three hits.

Additionally, the All-Star infielder now leads the league with 38 multi-hit games and owns a league-best .341 batting average. He is also tied with Rafael Devers for the MLB lead in doubles with 24.

Kyle Stowers stayed hot as well, blasting his third homer of the series with a two-run shot in the seventh inning that effectively put the game away.

The Marlins have now scored 19 runs through the first two games of the series while continuing to look like one of baseball’s hottest teams.

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