Marlins comeback comes up short against struggling Orioles

MIAMI, FL - Despite the visiting Baltimore Orioles taking an early 3-0 in the top of the first, the Miami Marlins continued to fight back, but fell by a final score of 9-7, dropping to 16-20 on the season.

Sandy Alcantara, who made his eighth start of the season, struggled on Tuesday night, going 4 1/3 innings, allowing a season-high seven runs on eight hits, three walks and five strikeouts. Tuesday's start raised Alcantara's overall numbers to a 4.01 ERA, 3.86 FIP, 6.27 K/9 and 3.14 BB/9 in eight starts this season.

Not known for allowing a lot of hard-hit balls, Alcantara allowed nine of them, with three of them coming off both of his fastballs (sinker/four-seam). The 47.1% ground ball rate, which for Alcantara, who has a career 49.6% GB rate, was low.

In the top of the first inning, the Orioles wasted no time ambushing the Marlins ace, knocking in three runs. The first came on a Pete Alonso two-run RBI double (moved to third on an error). Catcher Samuel Basallo drove Alonso in, capping off a 34-pitch inning for Alcantara.

Basallo knocked in two more runs on an RBI single in the top of the third. In the fifth, Basallo hit an RBI triple, making it 6-4. Basallo scored on a fielders choice from Colton Cowser, making it 7-4.

In Alcantara's defense, there was some luck involved, as he had a 2.91 FIP in his start. One positive is that his changeup was as dominant as always, generating eight whiffs and four of his five strikeouts came on that pitch.

"I think that first inning, the (Dylan) Beavers at-bat just got really elongated," Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. "Pitch count ran up, Pete (Alonso) hooks the ball down the line for a couple of runs and we have a little trouble handling down there. Get another guy to third base and just some times today where he had some counts in his favor, he just didn't execute well enough with 2k."

The Marlins offense was highlighted by Liam Hicks, who finished with a four-hit performance, capped off by a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh inning, making it a 7-5. His 431-foot shot to the second deck in right field marked his longest home run of the season. Otto Lopez made it back-to-back home runs, cutting the Orioles lead, 7-6. It was his fourth of the season.

Joe Mack, who made his major league debut on Monday night against the Philadelphia Phillies, caught Alcantara, but the story was his bat, notching his first major league hit, which was an RBI single in the bottom of the third inning. In the bottom of the eighth inning, he had his second hit of the game.

"He's a young catcher with good talent," Alcantara said. "Everybody he been waiting for him for a long time. Now, he's finally here, so you gotta keep working the same way that he was working in Triple-A. Just gotta be out there, enjoy time with us and take advantage of all the opportunities."

After Mack got on base, McCullough sent out speedster Esteury Ruiz to pinch-run for Mack. The former stole second, then stole third, but a bad throw from Basallo allowed Ruiz to score and tie the game. So far, Ruiz is slashing .267/.267/.733/1.000 with two home runs and three stolen bases.

"I hope this guy leads the league in pinch-running stolen base attempts," McCullough said. "Whoever we had up that inning, first guy to get on base like, we had Ruiz going there. We're down, and certainly felt like his ability to do that and go take a chance to go steal a base there and then he caused them to rush a little bit and was able to tie it up with some aggressive base running. We'll continue to try to find as many ways we can use Ruiz to impact games even when he's not starting."

Right-handed reliever Willian Kempner was called-up ahead of Tuesday's game to replace the roster spot that Chris Paddack once held before being designated for assignment. In his major league debut, Kempner tossed a 1-2-3 inning, striking out Colton Cowser.

"I think it went well," Kempner said. "I think the best part is that I felt really good out there. I felt like I was just being myself, and that's all I can ask for at this point in my career. I have this promise to myself that I need to be that guy out there that just doesn't care what people think. I did that today and I'm very happy for myself."

The Marlins will look to bounce back on Wednesday night with Eury Pérez taking the mound. First pitch is at 6:40 pm.