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Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara was red-hot on the mound against the Cincinnati Reds and aiming to become the first pitcher to throw back-to-back shutouts in more than a decade.
He took a 2-0 lead into the ninth inning when the Reds’ bats began to jump on him. He was removed from the game with one out after Matt McLain hit a double and a walk by Elly De La Cruz. Reliever Anthony Bender couldn’t 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 Loan Depot Park in Miami, Florida, on April 7, 2026. (Rhona Wise/Image Images)
Cincinnati would score four runs in the 10th inning and hold on for a 6-3 victory.
Alcántara was credited with the two earned runs after McLain and De La Cruz scored. He only allowed three hits and struck out six. But he didn’t like manager Clayton McCullough’s decision to take him out of the game.
“So I think I deserve to be asked how I feel before being taken out of the game (with) 95 pitches and (with a) right on deck,” Alcántara said, via MLB.com. “But it is what it is. I just have to prepare for my next outing. Come back tomorrow and fight the same way we did today.”
Elly de la Cruz of the Cincinnati Reds reacts after scoring on a wild pitch by Miami Marlins reliever 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 with the percentages as the Reds lineup approached 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 are a lot of decisions that are made throughout the game, throughout the season, that weigh on you, and for it to change and not end in our favor certainly doesn’t feel very good,” he added.
“I also know how to come here and [to] answer, that’s certainly part of it, and I don’t feel too good about how it ended for us. I think there are many decisions throughout the year that weigh on you. That we lost the game is what hurts me the most.”
Alcántara has been one of the best pitchers to come through the Marlins organization in a long 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 2022 National League Cy Young Award. So far this season, he has a 0.74 ERA with 18 strikeouts. The two earned runs charged Tuesday were the first of three starts.
