MIAMI _ Sandy Alcantara didn't have any trouble with the Washington Nationals the first three times he went through their lineup Thursday. The starting pitcher, who lowered his ERA all the way down beneath 3.50 by holding the Nationals to just run through five innings, pounded the strike zone and got quick outs against a free-swinging lineup. He was on his way to another long, effective outing in a month and a half full of them.
The meltdown started slowly in the sixth inning, then came all at once. Trea Turner started with a single and a stolen base and Anthony Rendon got hit by a pitch. With two outs, Alcantara couldn't put the inning away. Matt Adams belted a three-run home run to tie the game. Victor Robles crushed a two-run homer to put Washington ahead. A three-run lead for the Miami Marlins quickly flipped into a two-run deficit and eventually an 8-5 loss at Marlins Park.
For the second straight game, the sixth inning was the killer for one of Miami's young starting pitchers.
On Wednesday, Zac Gallen made his first home start for the Marlins (30-49) and cruised through five shutout innings before the Nationals (40-40) jumped on him to score three in the sixth without letting the rookie record an out.
On Thursday, Alcantara (4-7) faced the same fate. The only run he allowed in his first five innings came when he left a sinker right over the heart of the plate for Juan Soto and the outfielder launched it over the left-field fence for a solo home run. Otherwise, the 23-year-old starter was virtually flawless. He threw strikes and limited Washington to just one other hit and a walk, even though he only notched one strikeout.
With Miami's young staff, pitching deep into games has been a challenge. Caleb Smith throws too many pitches with his strikeout-heavy style. Pablo Lopez struggles the second and third times through opponents' lineups.
Alcantara is the exception. He's the pitcher who threw an 89-pitch complete game last month and has gone at least seven innings four times despite only crossing the 100-pitch threshold once in 2019. The right-handed pitcher was on his way to another seven- or eight-inning outing _ but he hung a slider over the middle of the plate to Matt Adams. Then, he threw another first-pitch slider to Robles at the bottom of the zone and the outfielder hit it out. His final line: six innings with seven hits, one walk, six earned runs, three home runs allowed and just one strikeout.
One inning spoiled all the Marlins' offense managed against Stephen Strasburg. Miguel Rojas set the tone from the start with a leadoff double against the starting pitcher in the top of the first and the infielder put Miami on the board two innings later. With runners on first and second, Rojas smacked a line drive to right and the ball got past outfielder Adam Eaton. Rojas dashed all the way to third while Eaton tried in vain to gun down a runner at home. The Marlins took a 2-0 lead and stretched it to 3-0 when outfielder Harold Ramirez grounded out to get Rojas home.
Two innings later, Rojas started another rally with a two-out single and eventually scored again to push Miami's lead to 4-1 before Alcantara unraveled. A day after manager Don Mattingly stumped for Rojas to be the Marlins' All-Star, the defensive stalwart put together his best game of the season, going 4 for 4 with three doubles against one of the best power pitchers in the majors. Miami even collected seven hits and held Strasburg (9-4) to only four strikeouts, but the sixth inning dug a hole too big for the Marlins to avoid a sweep in front of 7,751 in Miami.
