MIAMI, Fla.—The script flipped very quickly Friday night.
After being held to one hit and no runs in the first four innings, the Miami Marlins put up six runs against the New York Mets in the fifth and coasted to a 6-2 win at loanDepot park.
Sandy Alcantara, meanwhile, ended the night by retiring 15 of the last 17 hitters he faced after allowing six hits and two runs in his first three innings, including a leadoff home run to Francisco Lindor.
Rookie starting pitcher Brandon Sproat cruised through the Marlins order the first time around. The Marlins didn’t get their first hit until Xavier Edwards singled up the middle to begin the fourth. Liam Hicks then grounded into a double play and Otto Lopez popped out to third base, ending any possible rally.
They would not let the next leadoff hit go to waste.
Down 2-0, Griffin Conine and Troy Johnston started the fifth with a couple of singles, and were driven home on a Heriberto Hernández triple into the right field corner. After Graham Pauley grounded out to first, Jakob Marsee hit a similar grounder to the same spot. But first baseman Pete Alonso bobbled the ball, allowing Hernández to score and take the lead.
The Marlins tacked on three more runs in the frame. An RBI single from Edwards scored Agustín Ramírez, who had stolen third base when Ronny Mauricio was playing deep on the infield and not covering the bag, putting him in position to score on anything in the outfield. That was followed by a two-run pinch-hit home run from Connor Norby.
It was a nice gift of run support to Alcantara, making his final start of 2025.
The 30-year-old right-hander needed 55 pitches to get out of the first three innings. He was leaving pitches over the heart of the plate, and throwing his pitches a couple ticks slower than usual—his sinker averaging two miles per hour slower than his season mark during the first three innings.
Marlins manager Clayton McCullough attributed the rough start to Alcantara not being able to find his rhythm. It was a problem that he faced earlier this year as he returned from Tommy John surgery that kept him out all of 2024.
“Early in the season, not sure how that one would have gone,” McCullough said. “Now, he’s just able to put things together much differently. And then he finds another gear late in games.”
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Alcantara did not allow any runs or hits after those first three innings. The final 12 outs he recorded were groundouts, reminiscent of his 2022 Cy Young season where his 54.2% ground ball rate was in the top 10th percentile.
“That’s when the action of his pitches is working as they should,” McCullough said. “He’s getting over the sinker, you got the changeup with depth, and now with how his spin balls have just improved through the year, that’s Sandy at his best. That’s when you know that the action late on the pitches is there. The hitters are seeing it coming in, and then it dive bombs late.”
Overall, this was the least effective season of Alcantara’s career (5.36 ERA). However, he went a long way toward reestablishing himself as a high-quality innings-eater down the stretch, completing at least six frames in each of his final eight outings.
The game was a huge blow to the Mets’ playoff chances. New York came into Friday with a one-game lead over the Cincinnati Reds for the final NL Wild Card spot, who took care of business on their end by defeating the Milwaukee Brewers. The Reds own the head-to-head tiebreaker should both teams finish the weekend with the same record. The Arizona Diamondbacks are also still mathematically alive.
The playoff nature of Friday’s game may have contributed to the adrenaline as Alcantara walked off the mound after being pulled in the eighth inning. With trade rumors swirling since last winter, he tipped his cap to the 34,196 fans that gave him a standing ovation.
“I was close to crying,” Alcantara said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen after Sunday. I’m just trying to take every special moment that I have with my teammates. I play for the Marlins. So I’m not going to say this is my last start here in Miami. Let’s see what happens. We gotta get ready in spring training and try to win more games than we did this year.”
Probable starters for Saturday’s 4:10 p.m. game are Eury Pérez and Clay Holmes.