Sandy Alcantara Records First Career Save on One Day of Rest
Sandy Alcantara earned his first MLB save on one day of rest as the Miami Marlins beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-3 in Phoenix.
World Baseball News Editorial Team , 1 min read 
Sandy Alcantara stepped out of his usual role Wednesday night and delivered a first for his major-league career, working a scoreless ninth inning to earn the save as the Miami Marlins beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-3 at Chase Field.
The unusual bullpen appearance came just two days after Alcantara threw 101 pitches over five innings in Monday’s series opener. Miami manager Clayton McCullough still turned to his ace with a one-run lead, and Alcantara answered with his first MLB save in his 210th career appearance.
Alcantara closes it after leading MLB in innings
Alcantara entered the ninth with Miami ahead 4-3. He retired the first two hitters on deep fly balls before walking Lars Nootbaar. Pinch-runner Jordan Lawlar then attempted to steal second, but catcher Joe Mack threw him out to end the game.
The 31-year-old right-hander leads the majors with 206 innings in 2026. Before Wednesday, all but eight of his major-league appearances had been starts, and those eight relief outings all came during his rookie season with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2017.
Alcantara is 13-10 with a 3.84 ERA across 32 starts and one relief appearance this season. His willingness to pitch on one day of rest came with Miami still holding faint postseason hopes and after the Marlins had used eight pitchers in Tuesday’s 11-inning victory.
Marlins take series as Arizona loses ground
Jakob Marsee supplied Miami’s biggest swing with a two-run homer in the third inning, while Heriberto Hernández finished with four of the Marlins’ 10 hits. Pavin Smith, Gabriel Moreno and Nolan Arenado homered for Arizona.
The victory moved Miami to 76-77 and completed a series win in Phoenix. Arizona fell to 80-73 and 3.5 games behind the San Diego Padres for the final National League wild-card spot with nine games remaining.
Alcantara remains scheduled to make his next start Sunday in San Diego. For one night, though, one of baseball’s heaviest-workload starters became Miami’s closer — and added the first save of his career.
