MIAMI _ The good: Miami Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara tied a season-high with eight strikeouts and made it through at least six innings for his fourth consecutive start.
The bad: One towering first-inning swing from the Cincinnati Reds' Aristides Aquino put Alcantara and the Marlins behind for good in a 5-0 loss on Wednesday at Marlins Park. It was the Marlins' 19th shutout loss of the season.
Even worse for the Marlins: Anthony DeSclafani, a former Florida Gators standout who made his MLB debut with the Marlins in 2014, gave up just two hits and a walk while striking out eight over seven shutout innings. Miami had just four hits total in the loss.
The Marlins (47-85) have lost all three games to the Reds (63-69) so far this series and 22 of their last 27 games. The series finale is Thursday at 7:10 p.m.
Alcantara, the Marlins' lone All-Star representative this season, had been a rare highlight on the mound for the Marlins in August, posting a 2.36 ERA (seven earned runs in 26 2/3 innings) over his four starts this month heading into Wednesday. The lanky 6-5, hard-throwing righty was also coming off three consecutive starts in which he held opponents to three earned runs or fewer while throwing at least seven innings.
"A lot of progress," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said pregame. "His last three (starts) have been really, really good. Sandy's been aggressive. He's getting after the strike zone. He's pitching really well. Hopefully he'll continue that."
That quickly changed Wednesday after a 32-pitch first inning. After getting Josh VanMeter to hit a groundball back to the pitcher's mound, Alcantara walked Joey Votto on seven pitches and gave up a groundball single through the right side to Eugenio Suarez before Aquino belted a 90.7-mph change-up 414 feet to left field to give Cincinnati an early 3-0 lead.
Aquino, who became the first player in MLB history to hit 13 home runs in his first 100 plate appearances, doubled to lead off the fourth and scored on a Tucker Barnhart double.
Alcantara retired eight consecutive batters _ five by strikeout _ in between Aquino's two hits.
Alcantara's final line: Four earned runs on six hits and a walk with eight strikeouts.
Eugenio Suarez added a solo home run against Jeff Brigham in the eighth. Suarez has hit a home run in all three games of the series.
Neil Walker broke up an early no-hit bid with a leadoff single in the fourth. The Reds quickly erased it with a double play. The Marlins' only other baserunners came on a second-inning Isan Diaz walk, seventh-inning Starlin Castro single, Austin Dean eighth-inning single and Garrett Cooper ninth-inning double.
