MIAMI — After two shaky starts (by his standards) following the All-Star Break, Sandy Alcantara returned to form on Wednesday.
The Miami Marlins’ ace threw a complete game shutout in a 3-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday at loanDepot park to avoid a series sweep. It is the Marlins’ first win at home since July 14, breaking a span of nine consecutive home losses. Miami improves to 48-57, while Cincinnati falls to 42-62.
This was Alcantara’s MLB-leading third complete game of the season (also against the Braves on May 22 and Cardinals on June 29) and his first complete-game shutout of 2022. Alcantara had a pair of complete-game shutouts in 2019.
Alcantara needed 22 pitches to work around a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the first inning before more or less cruising through the rest of his outing. He worked around six hits and a walk. He only struck out three, but limited the Reds’ chances after that first inning. Only one Cincinnati hitter got into scoring position after that first inning when Donovan Solano and Aristides Aquino hit back-to-back one-out singles in the seventh. That threat was eliminated by an inning-ending double play — the second Alcantara forced on the night.
It was a needed reset start for Alcantara, who had allowed six runs over 11 innings in his first two starts after the All-Star Break.
Jesus Aguilar hit a solo home run in the fourth to open scoring and Garrett Cooper, in his first game back from the injured list, hit a two-out, two-run double in the fifth that scored Luke Williams and Billy Hamilton. Williams had three hits and set a career-high with three stolen bases.
