Alcantara dazzles, offense shows up and Marlins open shortened 2020 season with a win

Sandy Alcantara had to wait almost four extra months for this moment on Friday night. His first Opening Day start for the Miami Marlins. His chance to show he can be the team’s ace. His opportunity to lead the team back onto the field and start Year 3 of this rebuild that has now morphed into a 60-game sprint for the playoffs after the coronavirus pandemic cut the season by more than 100 games.

It came on the road, where the only fans inside stadium were cutouts positioned in seats behind home plate and the occasional piped-in crowd noise provided the only form atmosphere and a minimal one at that.

But Alcantara delivered. His teammates gave him enough support.

And for the first time in six years, the Marlins left the field on Opening Day with a win.

Final score from Citizens Bank Park: Marlins 5, Philadelphia Phillies 2.

A four-run sixth inning, highlighted by a two-run home run from Jesus Aguilar, gave the Marlins (1-0) the lead for good.

Alcantara, though, made sure the Phillies (0-1) never had a chance.

The 24-year-old’s final line: 6 2/3 innings pitched, three hits allowed, seven strikeouts, two walks.

His 7 strikeouts are the most by a starting pitcher on Opening Day since Jose Fernandez had nine in 2014, coincidentally the last time the Marlins won on Opening Day. His 6 2/3 innings are the most by a starting pitcher on Opening Day since Henderson Alvarez went seven innings to start the 2015 season.

Of Alcantara’s 87 pitches, 56 were strikes. He induced 14 swings and misses, 11 of which came with his changeup (six) and sinker (five). His four-seam fastball topped out at 98.8 mph. Fifteen of his 20 outs were the result of ground balls or strikeouts.

He didn’t give up a hit until Scott Kingery’s bloop single to shallow center field in the third. He didn’t give up a walk until the sixth inning. He struck out Bryce Harper twice and got him to fly out on his third at-bat.

His lone run surrendered while on the mound: A Didi Gregorious home run down the right-field line on a hung slider in the fifth. He allowed just two baserunners after that, one of whom was erased after a double play. The other, Gregorious again on a seventh inning walk, scored on an error by Jonathan Villar in center field when Brad Boxberger was on the mound.

The offense provided enough of a jolt in one inning to offset those two miscues.

Miami took a 1-0 lead in the third when catcher Francisco Cervelli, in the starting lineup because Jorge Alfaro was put on the Injured List for unspecified reasons hours before first pitch, scored on a Villar sacrifice fly.

Then came the fourth inning, which saw the Marlins bring eight to the plate and score four runs.

Aguilar’s two-run home run that traveled 409 feet into the empty royal blue seats in left-center sparked the rally. It was followed by doubles from Corey Dickerson and Garrett Cooper with a Harold Ramirez walk and a couple wild pitches from reliever Ramon Rosso between them.

The bullpen held its own even with a shaky end to the eighth inning by Yimi Garcia. After two quick outs, Garcia put runners on first and second on a Rhys Hoskins single and Harper walk. He fell behind 3-0 to Realmuto, representing the tying run, before filling the count with two strikes and fielding a comebacker on the sixth pitch of the at-bat and flipping it to Aguilar to get out of the jam.

Brandon Kintzler threw a scoreless ninth inning to earn his first save of the season.

The Miami Marlins are 1-0.