Sandy Alcantara’s night got away from him fast, and the Miami Marlins never fully recovered.
The New York Mets jumped on Alcantara early Tuesday night, stacking up three home runs on the way to a 7-0 lead and eventually handing Miami a 7-5 loss. Francisco Lindor opened the game with a leadoff homer, then Juan Soto and Brett Baty added more damage as Alcantara was tagged for seven runs in 4 1/3 innings. He allowed seven hits, walked four and struck out one.
Afterward, Alcantara didn’t hide from it.
"I feel very bad about the job that I did tonight," Alcantara said postgame. "Knowing the the position that we are right now, losing is devastating for us. Just gotta get hot and keep things together and just be out there and fight."
While Alcantara was trying to settle in, Mets starter Sean Manaea was doing the opposite of giving Miami any opening. He threw five perfect innings before the Marlins finally broke through in the sixth.
That rally gave Miami a chance to make the game uncomfortable. Jakob Marsee started the inning with a double, and Jared Serna picked up his second career RBI to bring him in and cut the deficit to 7-1. Brian Navarreto then singled home Serna, and Otto Lopez and Javier Sanoja followed with RBI singles to make it 7-4.
"Very proud of the group," Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. "Not the start of the game that we were hoping for to get down, but climb out and make things really interesting and even those last couple innings to create some traffic and have a chance there. We hung in there and probably got behind the eight ball a little bit too much, not able to to overcome it."
Marsee kept swinging it well all night, finishing with three hits for the fifth time this season. He added another RBI in the bottom of the ninth to pull Miami within two at 7-5. Serna, who was recently called up, also turned in the first multi-hit game of his career.
"Jared put together really aggressive swings tonight, and good for him," McCullough said. "He got an opportunity to go play and had a nice game."
The loss, paired with another Arizona Diamondbacks win, left the Marlins six games behind the final NL Wild Card spot with 16 games remaining. Miami will try to avoid the sweep Wednesday, with Janson Junk set to start.
In Other News...
Marlins Farm System Is Giving Fans Real Hope For 2026
With the big club looking ahead, the Marlins farm system has given the organization something it has not always had in recent years: real depth with a chance to matter soon. Single-A Jupiter and Double-A Pensacola are both in the postseason, a sign that the pipeline is producing more than just a few headline names, and several of Miamis top prospects already spent time helping the major league team this season.
Rachel Balkovec, the teams director of player development, has pointed to broad progress throughout the 2026 farm system, from hitting and baserunning to defense and the overall approach to developing players. Injuries slowed some of the brightest prospects along the way, but the bigger picture is still encouraging for a franchise trying to turn prospect promise into sustained help at the next level. [Read more 🡒]
Sandy Alcantara Just Made Miamis 2027 Outlook A Lot More Complicated
Sandy Alcantaras season has been one of the more important developments in Miami, even before you get to the broader implications for the clubs future. After working his way back from Tommy John surgery and a difficult 2025, the right-hander has given the Marlins something they badly needed: stability in the rotation and a reminder of what a healthy Alcantara can still mean. His summer stretch backed that up, with strong July and August numbers helping define a rebound that looked far more encouraging than what Miami got a year ago.
Even with a rough recent start in which he gave up seven runs in 4.1 innings, Alcantara has still kept piling up value by taking the ball every fifth day and getting deep into the season. That matters for a Marlins team trying to map out what comes next, because a pitcher who looks reestablished can change the conversation around the rotation, the offseason, and the timeline for 2027. The bigger question now is how much Miami can count on this version of Alcantara as it builds forward. [Read more 🡒]