Alcantara continues dominance with perfect ASG outing

LOS ANGELES -- First inning? Second inning? In the end, did it really matter?

Sandy Alcantara has been the best pitcher in the National League over the first half of the 2022 season. He may not have started the All-Star Game on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, but when he did get into the game, he pitched like, well, the best pitcher in the NL.

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Alcantara was downright dominant in the second inning, retiring the side in order. He needed just three pitches to punch out Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton -- a nasty sequence of two 98-mph fastballs followed by a knee-buckling 92-mph slider for a called strike three.

Stanton would go on to take home the game's MVP Award after his game-tying two-run homer a couple innings later. But Alcantara made him look silly in his first at-bat in the American League's 3-2 victory.

"It's just another game," Alcantara would later say of his All-Star Game mindset. "I just throw my best pitches and compete."

Alcantara did exactly that, throwing just 13 pitches (10 strikes). He averaged 99 mph with his fastball and 92 mph with his slider.

The Twins' Byron Buxton followed Stanton, and Alcantara made quick work of him, too. He threw four straight fastballs and got Buxton to whiff at the top of the zone for strike three. To cap his outing, Alcantara got Chicago’s Tim Anderson to bounce to first.

In the end, all that pregame hullabaloo about the decision to start Dodgers legend Clayton Kershaw amounted to nothing. The two pitchers clearly have a mutual respect for each other, and they wouldn’t let a bit of pseudo-controversy get in the way of that.

Once Kershaw learned he'd be starting the All-Star Game, he gave Alcantara a call.

"He was awesome about it," Kershaw said. "And I was really thankful about that."

Said Alcantara: "I told him, 'You deserve it. Just go out there and compete.' I'm super happy because he had a great game today."

Kershaw pitched a scoreless top of the first inning, though he did allow a hit and a walk. Alcantara, meanwhile, was borderline untouchable.

It was as dominant an All-Star display as any Marlins pitcher in recent memory. Alcantara became the first Miami pitcher to throw a perfect inning in an All-Star Game since José Fernández did so in 2013. Fernández also recorded two strikeouts in the sixth inning that night at Citi Field.

Alcantara, who also tossed a scoreless frame in the 2019 All-Star Game at Cleveland, joined Kevin Brown as the only Marlins with multiple scoreless All-Star appearances.

As for Miami’s two other All-Stars, Jazz Chisholm did not play, as he rehabs a lower back strain. Garrett Cooper entered in the sixth inning in the DH spot and went 0-for-2 with a pair of strikeouts.

Alcantara was the standout for the Marlins -- and perhaps for the entire NL squad, even if he didn’t start the game.

"All the fans were hoping for it -- me, my family, my team and everyone else was, too," Alcantara said. "But I don’t feel bad about it or upset, because I know the opportunity went to another deserving guy. I think he also deserves it because he’s a Dodgers legend. Clayton Kershaw is a pitcher I’ve always admired. I think he deserves it, and I’m really happy for him."

And who knows? If Alcantara keeps pitching like he did on Tuesday night -- like he has all season, really -- this won’t be the last time the electric 26-year-old right-hander is in contention to start a Midsummer Classic.

Clearly, he loves the stage.