Marlins’ Sandy Alcantara expresses frustration with decision to be removed in 9th inning

Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara was red-hot on the mound against the Cincinnati Reds and was angling to become the first pitcher to throw back-to-back shutouts in over a decade.

He took a 2-0 lead into the ninth inning when the Reds’ bats started to jump on him. He was removed from the game with one out and after Matt McLain doubled and an Elly De La Cruz walk. Reliever Anthony Bender was unable to keep the Reds at bay and Cincinnati tied the game.

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Cincinnati would score four runs in the 10th inning and hang on for the 6-3 win.

Alcantara 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 remove him from the game.

"So I think I deserve to be asked how I feel before taking me out of the game (at) 95 pitches and (with a) righty on deck," Alcantara said, via MLB.com. "But it is what it is. Just got to get ready for my next outing. Get back tomorrow and fight the same way that we did today."

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McCullough suggested he was playing the percentages as the Reds’ lineup was coming through 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 go throughout the course of the game, through the course of the season, that do weigh on you, and for this one to turn and not end up in our favor certainly doesn't feel great," he added.

"I also know to come here and [to] answer, that is certainly part of it, and I don't feel great about how it finished for us. I think there's a lot of decisions throughout the course of the year that do weigh on you. Us losing the game is for me what stings the most."

Alcantara has been one of the best pitchers to come through the Marlins’ organization in a while.

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 on Tuesday were the first through three starts.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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