MIAMI — It was Dominican Heritage Night at loanDepot park on Saturday, so naturally two of the Miami Marlins’ players who call the Dominican Republic home came up big in their 6-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds, their third win in the past four games.
Starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara, born in Azua, followed up his 11-strikeout performance against the Reds on Sunday with a career-high 12 strikeouts over seven innings of one-run ball. Rookie outfielder Jesus Sanchez, born in Higuey, hit a towering three-run home run to center field to cap a five-run first inning.
Alcantara, the Marlins’ 25-year-old ace, was dominant from the start on Saturday. He got through seven innings on 98 pitches, scattering six hits and walking one. He ran into trouble in the third when he gave up three hits — including an RBI double to Tyler Naquin — and a walk but got out of a bases-loaded jam by striking out Asdrubal Cabrera. After giving up back-to-back one-out singles in the fourth, Alcantara retired the final 11 batters he faced.
Alcantara entered Saturday with a career whiff rate of 25% and a 26.1% mark for the 2021 season. On Saturday, the Reds (71-60) swung and missed on 29 of their 61 swings against him — a 47.5% clip. That included 17 whiffs on 24 swings against the slider, which was the final pitch for seven of Alcantara’s dozen strikeouts.
And unlike Sunday, when Alcantara held the Reds to two runs over seven innings but wound up with the loss, the Marlins offense gave him more than enough run support.
Sanchez’s first-inning home run — a 443-foot shot to center field — gave Alcantara a 5-0 advantage early as Miami (54-76) sent 10 batters to the plate in the first inning. It was the first time since Sept. 30, 2017, that the Marlins scored five runs in the first inning of a game.
Sanchez has hits in six of his last nine starts, with five of his seven hits in that span going for extra bases (three doubles, two home runs).
The Marlins have held heritage celebration nights throughout the season to honor various nationalities. They have included Cuban, Bahamian, Venezuelan, Colombian, Jewish, Italian, Puerto Rican and, on Saturday, Dominican heritage. Three more heritage celebration nights remain this season: Japanese on Sunday, Nicaraguan on Sept. 4 and Mexican on Oct. 2.
“We think it’s important to be diverse and inclusive and talk about how we honor other heritages,” Mike Shaw, the Marlins’ vice president of experience and innovation, told the Miami Herald in May. “We’re highlighting the diversity across South Florida, the Latin community. There’s so many different heritages in the Caribbean we want to highlight.”
The Marlins have five players on their active roster from the Dominican Republic. In addition to Alcantara and Sanchez, pitcher Edward Cabrera (Santiago), outfielder Bryan De La Cruz (Santo Domingo) and outfielder Magneuris Sierra (San Cristobal) hail from the island. De La Cruz had two hits on Saturday, bumping his batting average to .355 on the season since making his MLB debut on July 30.
Five more players on the Marlins’ 40-man roster — pitchers Sixto Sanchez (San Cristobal) and Jorge Guzman (Las Matas de Santa Cruz), infielders Jose Devers (Samana) and Lewin Diaz (Santiago), and outfielder prospect Jerar Encarnacion (Bayaguana) — are from the Dominican Republic.
More notables from Saturday
— Jorge Alfaro, starting in left field and batting cleanup, opened scoring with a two-run single to left field in the first after the Marlins loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a catcher’s interference. He finished the game with two hits and three RBIs after adding a run-scoring double in the sixth. Alfaro is now riding a six-game hit streak and has eight multi-hit games in the 22-game stretch since making his first start in left field on Aug. 3.
— Rookie middle infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. recorded his first career three-hit game, logging a pair of singles and a double.
