It may be early in the MLB season, but the Miami Marlins are in first place in the NL East. On Wednesday, Sandy Alcantara needed just 94 pitches to shut out the Chicago White Sox, moving to 5-1 on the season.
Now, others are taking notice, including one of the best pitchers of all time, Roger Clemens.
“More of this please,” Clemens posted on X formerly Twitter.
Alcantara was dominant in the game. He went all nine innings, giving up just three hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out seven, while throwing an efficient 93 pitches. While the Marlins did put up ten runs, the game took just two hours and 14 minutes to complete.
The Marlins pitcher did hit a batter in the third inning, before retiring 16 straight batters, and then allowing a two-out single in the eighth inning. He entered the ninth inning having thrown just 84 pitches, after throwing just five pitches in the eighth inning.
The complete game was the first of the MLB season, and the 13th of Alcantara's career. Further, it was his fifth career complete game shutout, and his first since the 2021 season. This year, he has pitched 16 innings, going 2-0 and has yet to give up an earned run. Alcantara was the opening day pitcher for the Marlins and went seven innings, giving up four hits with two walks and five strikeouts against the Rockies. He did give up a run, but it was unearned as the inning was extended due to an error. He threw just 73 pitches in that game.
The Marlins will hit the road for the first time this season over the weekend, visiting the New York Yankees. Alcantara is next scheduled to start on April 7 against the Cincinnati Reds back in Miami.
