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Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara was red hot on the mound against the Cincinnati Reds and looked to become the first pitcher to throw back-to-back shutouts in over a decade.
He took a 2-0 lead in the ninth inning when the Reds’ bats started jumping on him. He was removed from the game with one out and after Matt McLain doubled and Elly De La Cruz walked. Reliever Anthony Bender failed to keep the Reds at bay and Cincinnati tied the game.
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Miami Marlins starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara pitches against the Cincinnati Reds in the first inning at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida on April 7, 2026. (Rhona Wise/Imagn Images)
Cincinnati would score four runs in the 10th inning and hold on for the 6-3 victory.
Alcantara was credited with the two earned runs after McLain and De La Cruz scored. He allowed just three hits and struck out six. But he didn’t like manager Clayton McCullough’s decision to remove him from the game.
“So I think I deserve to be asked how I feel going into the game (on) 95 pitches and (with) a right-hander on deck,” Alcantara said via MLB.com. “But that’s how it is. I just have to prepare for my next outing. Come back tomorrow and fight the same way you did today.”
Elly de la Cruz of the Cincinnati Reds reacts after scoring on a wild pitch from Miami Marlins relief pitcher Anthony Bender during the ninth inning of a baseball game in Miami on April 7, 2026. (Lynne Sladky/AP)
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McCullough suggested he was playing the percentages as the Reds lineup lined up to face Alcantara for the fourth time. He said Bender was the best pitcher to come into the game and win it. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out that way.
“I think there’s a lot of decisions that happen throughout the game, throughout the season that weigh on you, and for it to turn out and not end in our favor, it’s definitely not great,” he added.
“I also know how to come here and [to] answer, that’s definitely part of it, and I don’t feel good about how it ended for us. I think there are a lot of decisions during the year that weigh on you. Losing the match is what stings the most for me.”
Alcantara has been one of the best pitchers in the Marlins organization for quite some time.
Miami Marlins starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara walks to the dugout before a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds in Miami on April 7, 2026. (Lynne Sladky/AP)
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He won the National League Cy Young Award in 2022. So far this season, he has a 0.74 ERA with 18 strikeouts. The two earned runs he was charged with Tuesday were the first of three starts.
