Alcantara shows glimpses of 'Sandy Mode,' Marlins bats go quiet

MIAMI—As Matt Mervis rounded the bases in the bottom of the first on Wednesday afternoon following his two-run, go-ahead blast, it was looking like the Marlins would carry enough momentum from an exhilarating first two games against Cincinnati to notch their first sweep of the 2025 season.

Reds starter Brady Singer had other ideas, though.

While his offense chipped away, the former Florida Gator and Leesburg native bested Sandy Alcantara and silenced the Marlins’ hot bats for the rest of the day. Singer allowed just two hits, including zero from innings two to four, until he was relieved following the sixth. Contrary to Monday and Tuesday, Terry Francona’s bullpen followed suit, allowing just two singles in the final three innings as his Reds salvaged game three by a score of 5-2, dropping the Marlins to 11-13 in the process.

“Brady settled in well, and really located his sinker and secondaries today,” said Marlins manager Clayton McCullough. “(We) weren't really ever able to mount much in the middle innings or stress him at that point. So hats off to him, he threw a good ball game today”.

Mervis, Eric Wagaman and Ronny Simon were the only Marlins with extra-base hits the entire day, with Mervis' and Wagaman's coming in the first frame. Mervis is tied for third in the National League with seven homers this season.

Sandy gets through six

Alcantara didn’t necessarily need a bounce-back start, but he certainly wanted one, and the precedent was set. In day games at loanDepot park throughout his career, he possessed a 3.22 ERA with four complete games entering Wednesday.

“I was getting tired of being here, talking (about) a lot of negative things…I just put it in my mind, my last start, that I gotta be on ‘Sandy Mode' and I think I did a little bit of Sandy Mode today,” he told reporters postgame.

The results were as mixed as they could be. Miami’s ace looked like his former self in innings two, four, and six—rolling ground balls and demonstrating great pace and efficiency—but allowed runs and flashed inconsistencies in innings one, three, and five.

Similar to his blowup start last Friday, command was a minor issue. While he only walked two, he struggled to put hitters away when ahead, throwing 34 pitches when he had two strikes, driving up his pitch count early.

Looking positively, Sandy’s velocity on both his sinker and fastball were up a tick when compared to said previous start. The sinker's average velo improved from 96.1 mph to 97.3 mph while the fastball jumped from 97.2 to 97.8. Another encouraging sign was Sandy’s patented changeup, which got thrown 34% of the time while racking up nine of his sixteen whiffs. Reds batters chased it outside the zone at a 40% rate.

All in all, it’s a step forward for Alcantara, who is still finding a groove after Tommy John surgery.

“He had a lot of count leverage today, and got through six (and) gave us a quality start…It was a good start. Very, very encouraging” said McCullough.

Of Note

- In the seventh, Jeimer Candelario grounded a ball to Otto Lopez at second with runners on first and third and the Reds up by a run. Instead of attempting to turn a double play on the slower Candelario, Lopez threw home to try and nab Elly De La Cruz at home due to the infield playing in. The throw was on time, but De La Cruz snuck a hand by Liam Hicks. Postgame, McCullough said "it was the right play. He didn't really hesitate. He got it, made an accurate throw to the plate, and Elly just outran it and barely beat it."

- After making history in his first two games as a big leaguer, Agustín Ramírez got the day off.

- With a paid attendance of 6,575, Wednesday's game was the least-attended Marlins game of 2025 thus far.

Up Next

The Fish depart for a cross-country trip to the Pacific Northwest for a three-game set against the Mariners. Friday's series opener features Cal Quantrill on the bump for the Marlins, looking to rebound after allowing seven earned runs a week ago in Philadelphia. Seattle has yet to announce a starter for the contest. First pitch is slated for 9:40 ET.