Sandy Alcantara Records First Career Save Two Days After 101-Pitch Start

Sandy Alcantara earned his first career save Wednesday night, closing out the Miami Marlins' 4-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Sandy Alcantara secured his first major league save Wednesday night, pitching a scoreless ninth inning to preserve the Miami Marlins' 4-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. The 31-year-old right-hander entered from the bullpen just two days after throwing 101 pitches over five innings in a no-decision on Monday. Alcantara retired the first two batters on deep flyouts before walking Lars Nootbaar; the game ended when catcher Joe Mack threw out pinch runner Jordan Lawlar attempting to steal second base.

Miami manager Clayton McCullough turned to his ace after the Marlins used eight pitchers during an 11-inning win on Tuesday. Alcantara, who leads the majors with 206 innings pitched this season, had not made a relief appearance since his 2017 rookie campaign with the St. Louis Cardinals. Prior to Wednesday, he had made 201 career starts and 32 starts this season, posting a 13-10 record with a 3.84 ERA.

The victory moves the Marlins to a 76-77 record, leaving them 7½ games behind San Diego for the final National League wild-card spot with nine games remaining. Alcantara is scheduled to return to the rotation for his next start on Sunday in San Diego. According to McCullough, the 2022 NL Cy Young winner had previously volunteered for bullpen duty 10 days ago, though the situation did not materialize at that time.