Sandy's fire fuels tight win: 'I was mad today'

In a pitchers’ duel, the strong arm of Sandy Alcantara came out on top as the Marlins took down the Braves, 3-2, at Truist Park on Saturday afternoon.

“Obviously [it] starts with Sandy, [he] threw some pitches early, but to still be able to get through six was huge for us,” said Marlins manager Don Mattingly.

• Box score

Alcantara was dealing, holding the Braves scoreless through four. However, he struggled with his command throughout his outing, allowing four walks, his most in a start since he allowed four against the Giants on April 23.

Alcantara ran into trouble in the bottom of the fifth, when the Braves secured their first run of the game on an RBI single from Ozzie Albies. With the Braves gaining momentum after a leadoff single from Dansby Swanson in the sixth, Alcantara closed out his outing with three straight outs before being replaced in the seventh by Dylan Floro.

“My God,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He’s another of those guys who plays catch at 100. His stuff is so live and that’s kind of what they look like. He’s a really, really good pitcher.”

Alcantara finished with one unearned run allowed on five hits with four strikeouts over six innings. He has gone at least six innings in 15 of his 18 starts this season. Alcantara has been a picture of consistency, and following Friday’s debacle, he wanted to put the Braves on notice by throwing 20 of his 99 pitches at or over 100 mph.

“I was mad today. I was mad because something happened last night, and I just wanted to be outside and attack,” said Alcantara. “We know that they are a really aggressive team and I gotta use my fastball. You guys saw what I did today. I came from the bullpen with velo.”

Despite the Braves eventually finding some offense, Alcantara looked unfazed, especially once the Marlins’ bats came alive. In the top of the third, the Marlins jumped out to a 1-0 lead thanks to Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s RBI single into right field. However, Miami was not finished, and following a walk to Starling Marte, Garrett Cooper secured his first RBI of the game on a single into left to bring in Chisholm.

With that single, Cooper extended his hitting streak to five games. Cooper has been finding his groove lately, and led off the top of the sixth with his seventh home run of the season to give the Marlins a 3-1 lead that held up in the victory.

“I was trying to ambush [Braves starter Kyle Muller] honestly. I was looking for a first-pitch fastball. The at-bat before, he had thrown a lot [of] offspeed with runners in scoring position, so I thought he was gonna try and get ahead early in that last at-bat,” said Cooper. “I just put a good swing on it, and thankfully it went out here. I don’t know if it would have gone out in Miami, though.”

Since coming off the IL on June 25 due to a lumbar strain, Cooper has been on fire at the plate, hitting .526 with two home runs and six RBIs.

Unfortunately for the Marlins, in the bottom of the seventh, Chisholm exited with pain in his right ankle, the same ankle that kept him sidelined earlier in the season. He finished the night going 1-for-3 with a walk, and was replaced by Joe Panik to end the game.

“[Chisholm] felt a little something on a swing in his ankle. We’re going to be careful with him,” said Mattingly.

The Marlins’ lead was just big enough for them to hold on, but the Braves did have a few chances to mount a comeback. In the bottom of the seventh, Floro came in for his second straight game. Over the past two days, Floro has thrown 63 pitches in relief. Although he allowed one unearned run on an RBI single from Freddie Freeman, Floro did his job and escaped the inning with a one-run lead.

“Him and Yimi [García] had the most rest. Floro felt good, but has been the guy. Even though he threw 32 yesterday, he's had quite a bit of rest recently, so we felt better about that part,” said Mattingly.

Coming into Saturday’s matchup, the Marlins have struggled in close games, with 18 of their 46 losses coming by one run. However, in the bottom of the ninth, García took the mound and held the Braves scoreless to end the game. Of his 33 outings this season, 24 have been scoreless.