In case you thought Jacob deGrom was the only pitcher in the National League East who’s unreal performances are spoiled by an offense that can hardly muster a run, allow us to venture down to South Florida, where the Marlins’ Sandy Alcantara is owed a few apologies in the locker room today.
Alcantara faced his former St. Louis Cardinals team for the fourth time in his career on Wednesday night and absolutely dominated their lineup yet again. Despite throwing 27 pitches in the first inning, Alcantara finished with eight scoreless frames, six strikeouts, one walk and four hits allowed. Only one of those hits left the infield.
It was a masterclass. Except he was forced to hand the ball over to Anthony Bender in the ninth inning and promptly watched the reliever allow a two-run homer to Nolan Arenado to hand the Marlins a 2-0 loss. And somehow that’s not even the worst part for Alcantara.
