Sandy Alcantara surrenders four runs in loss

Alcantara will make $21 million, plus an extra $1 million if he’s traded at any point, in the final year of his deal with the Marlins. The 31-year-old went 13-11 with a 3.87 ERA while leading the majors with 214 innings pitched last season. On the other hand, both his 17 percent strikeout rate and his 42 percent groundball rate were career lows. His value in fantasy leagues next year will rather significantly hinge on whether the Marlins continue to give him chances to close games in between starts.

In his final appearance of the season — and possibly, but far from assuredly, his final appearance with the Marlins — Alcantara locked down his third save of the season. Raise your hand if you predicted that figure. You liar. Alcantara went 13-11 in 2026 with a 153/59 K/BB over 214 innings. The right-hander showed he’s still a strong option, and be it for Miami or a new club, there will be fantasy-relevance, even if he doesn’t miss bats with the best of them.

Weird but ok. Alcantara, who picked up his second save last night, is still going to wind up leading the league in innings pitched in his first year back from Tommy John. He’s 13-11 with a 3.89 ERA and a 152/59 K/BB in 213 innings. The Marlins didn’t say who would start in his place, but Dax Fulton and Bradley Blalock could be available to go multiple innings.

What is going on here? Alcantara leads the league with 213 innings pitched and weirdly, two have come in relief over the past week. With a save in each, Alcantara also became the first pitcher to alternate four outings with a start going at least five innings and a save since the save became an official stat in 1969. The first of those saves seemed like an act of desperation by the Marlins amidst bullpen issues and at the time, they were still alive in the playoff race. Now, they’re eliminated and still tried this for a second time. Since Eury Pérez has also come out of the bullpen in the past week, this feels like some sort of experiment. Regardless, these two surprising saves from Alcantara could have swung a few fantasy leagues.

After giving up four runs in five innings Monday, Alcantara tonight made his first ever relief appearance with the Marlins and got three outs on 329- and 396-foot flyballs and then a caught stealing after a walk. The 329-footer was actually closer to being a homer than the 396-footer, since it was right down the left field line. Alcantara averaged 100.4 mph with his fastball in the one-inning outing, which is three mph higher than his average as a starter this season. Alcantara’s only previous relief appearances came in his only eight games with the Cardinals in 2017 before he was traded to the Marlins that winter. He’s still slated to start Sunday against the Padres.

Alcantara outpitched Corbin Burnes and left with a one-run lead that later increased to three runs, but Arizona was able to come back from there. This makes four straight starts in which Alcantara has given up at least four runs, taking his ERA from 3.38 to 3.86. At least he did rebound some with six strikeouts tonight, matching his total from his three previous starts combined. He’ll face the Padres next.

Alcantara gave up seven hits, walked four and struck out one. He fell to 13-10 with the loss. Alcantara allowed at least seven runs in a start three times in his first 12 starts and had a 4.66 ERA in that span. In his next 18 starts before Tuesday, he never allowed more than five runs in a start and had a 2.84 ERA. Alcantara has a 3.78 ERA. Though the outing against the Mets was concerning, Alcantara can be trusted to bounce back in his next start against the Diamondbacks on the road next week.

Alcantara struck out two batters in the contest while walking one. Carter Jensen was responsible for most of the damage done against him, with an RBI triple in the third inning and a two-run blast in the fifth. The 30-year-old righty got eight whiffs on 98 pitches on the evening, posting a miserable CSW of only 20 percent. He’ll bring a 13-9 record, 3.54 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and a 142/51 K/BB ratio (195 2/3 innings) into Tuesday’s battle against the Mets.

Alcantara stranded two runners in each of the first two innings before the Nationals broke through against him in the third, bringing four runs home on a walk and four hits. He’d settle down to give the Marlins three more scoreless frames before ending his day after six innings at 94 pitches. He struck out three. The 30-year-old right-hander will take a 3.46 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, and a 140/50 K/BB ratio across 189 2/3 innings into a start against the Royals in Kansas City on Thursday.

Alcantara finished with six strikeouts and only issued one walk. He gave up only six hits with an RBI double by Mickey Gasper in the fifth inning representing the lone tally against him. The 30-year-old workhorse has allowed three earned runs or fewer, while tossing at least six frames, in six consecutive starts dating back to July 28. He’ll wrap up a two-start week with a road matchup against the Nationals on Sunday.