MIA 7, TB 1: Sandy tosses a complete game along with hefty run support

In game two of the Citrus Series, Sandy Alcantara and the Marlins took down a tough Tampa Bay Rays team. Thanks to Alcantara's complete game and Miami getting to starter Zach Eflin early on, the Marlins won by a final score of 7-1 to split the series.

After a quick 1-2-3 inning for the Marlins offense in the first inning, Yuli Gurriel got it going with a double in the second. Jon Berti, who continues to be red-hot since the All-Star break, smacked an RBI single with two outs to give Miami their first run of the game. Berti is on an eight-game hit streak following the RBI. The bottom of the lineup became the story of the game. Jacob Stallings smacked an RBI double to drive in Berti and extend the Miami lead to 2-0. That was Stallings seventh double of the season.

"I thought Jacob Stallings really good today at the plate," said Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker. "When they walk Berti, that's a big bet for him to come up and put together another quality at-bat."

In the top of the fourth inning, Garrett Hampson, who came in for Jesús Sánchez, smacked a single followed by a Gurriel single to put runners on first and second with no outs. Joey Wendle had a sac bunt to move both runners up a base.

The Rays intentionally walked Berti, which loaded the bases with one out for Stallings. Once again, the catcher came through and smacked an RBI single to drive in Hampson. Dane Myers went on to hit a sac fly to drive in Gurriel and extend the Miami lead, 4-1.

It was a quiet game for Luis Arráez until he hit his 100th career double, which scored Berti for the fifth Marlins run. That ended up being Zach Eflin's final inning of work.

Against Rays reliever Calvin Faucher, Bryan De La Cruz crushed a first-pitch homer to left field and extend the Miami lead to 6-1. The ball left the bat at 107.9 MPH and went 410 feet. That was De La Cruz's 13th home run of the season.

In the top of the sixth inning Arráez again drove in Berti with a hit. With his 2-for-4 performance, Arráez is now batting .376 on the season.

With the Marlins having lost nine of their last 10 games, they needed a 2022 type start from Sandy. He responded by throwing a full nine innings, striking out seven, walking one and only giving up one run on five hits.

What was most impressive about Alcantara's start was how efficient he was throughout the course of his start. He did not throw more than 15 pitches in any inning.

Alcantara's slider has been his least-used pitch this season, but against Tampa Bay, it had the highest usage (27.8%).

"They've been aggressive team trying to get a fastball," said Alcantara following the game.

Another big difference was the amount of swing-and-miss that Alcantara was generating, which paved the way for a seven-strikeout performance. Sandy's main goal when he takes the mound is to work quickly so he can stay in the game for as long as possible. In this case, he was able to do that while also getting plenty of K's.

"I mean you expect him to be dominant every start, every outing," said Skip Schumaker. "Kind of vintage Sandy right there and I thought that the two-seam/changeup sequencing with the slider was really, really effective today. Really good job with Stallings, with the game plan, and when Sandy throws it where he wants to throw it, you see a lot more of that type of Sandy."

Miami was able to hold down the lead and split the series against the Rays. This was Miami's first win at the Trop since the 2020 shortened season and this was Alcantara's 11th complete game of his career (tied with Carlos Carrasco for 6th among active pitchers).

Alcantara is set to get his next start against the Philadelphia Phillies on August 1, immediately after the MLB trade deadline passes.

Photo: Nicole Moriarity