![\"MIAMI,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2270286887-GI.JPG\" "\\"MIAMI,")
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MIAMI, FLORIDA – APRIL 07: Sandy Alcantara #22 of the Miami Marlins delivers during the first inning against the Cincinnati Reds at loanDepot park on April 07, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Carmen Mandato\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Carmen Mandato<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
Clayton McCullough had his mind made up as he made the slow walk to the pitcher\u2019s mound in the ninth inning Tuesday. His ace, Sandy Alcantara, was two outs away from a shutout \u2014 what could have been his second in as many starts if he had finished the job \u2014 but had put the potential tying runs on base.<\/p>\n
At 95 pitches, McCullough thought Alcantara had done enough. So the Miami Marlins manager took the ball from his ace, hoping his bullpen could get the final two outs against the Cincinnati Reds.<\/p>\n
Everything unraveled from there.<\/p>\n
The Reds scored twice on Anthony Bender in the ninth \u2014 first on a Sal Stewart sacrifice fly and then on a wild pitch on the first pitch to Spencer Steer \u2014 to tie the game and force extra innings. Cincinnati then put up a four-spot on Calvin Faucher and John King to take the lead for good in an eventual 6-3 win at loanDepot park.<\/p>\n
\u201cI made that decision,\u201d McCullough said, \u201cand it did not work out, obviously.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for Alcantara\u2019s perspective on how the situation unfolded?<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just a player,\u201d said Alcantara, who set the Marlins record with 24 1\/3 innings to open the season without giving up an earned run before the two he left on the bases for Bender in the ninth scored. \u201cI understand there\u2019s a decision and you cannot control it. It just happened. It just happened. So I\u2019ll be with my teammates and my coaches, but I think next time, they have to make sure to ask me before taking me out of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
McCullough had already signaled to the bullpen before heading out to relieve Alcantara, who had given up a softly hit double to Matt McLain and walked Elly De La Cruz in the ninth to end his outing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had made that [decision] when he got [runners on] first and second,\u201d McCullough said. \u201cAnthony was ready.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hindsight is 20\/20, but this is a game that could leave McCullough playing the \u201cWhat if?\u201d game.<\/p>\n
What if he left Alcantara in to try to get the final two outs instead of turning to his bullpen, which struggled to throw strikes?<\/p>\n
Who knows exactly how the game would have unfolded.<\/p>\n
What is known, and what McCullough also said, was that Alcantara had \u201cprobably the best combination of stuff and execution\u201d that the manager had seen from his ace.<\/p>\n
Alcantara, who tossed a 93-pitch shutout his last time out against the White Sox, was perfect through four innings on Tuesday. He needed just 32 pitches to get his first 12 outs. His offense then gave him what seemed like would be all the run support he needed with Otto Lopez and Heriberto Hernandez RBI groundouts respectively scoring Agustin Ramirez and Jakob Marsee to give the Marlins (6-5) a 2-0 lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything feels good,\u201d Alcantara said.<\/p>\n
Cincinnati (8-3) then got its leadoff hitter on base in each of the next three innings on a Stewart groundball single up the middle in the fifth, a Noelvi Marte infield single to third base in the sixth and a De La Cruz walk in the seventh. Alcantara eliminated the threat each time.<\/p>\n
An 11-pitch eighth inning put Alcantara at 83 pitches going into the ninth.<\/p>\n
He got TJ Friedl to fly out to left before surrendering a double to Matt McLain \u2014 the first extra-base hit he has allowed on the young season. A second walk to De La Cruz ended Alcantara\u2019s night at 95 pitches.<\/p>\n
Instead of letting Alcantara try to finish things on his own, McCullough went to the bullpen, citing the fact that he was facing the Reds lineup for a fourth time and that he was confident Bender could seal things.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know he felt like he had plenty left to go finish that game out,\u201d McCullough said. \u201cDidn\u2019t give him that opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The collapse followed.<\/p>\n
Stewart lofted a Bender sweeper that clipped the bottom of the strike zone to right field for a sacrifice fly to cut Cincinnati\u2019s deficit to 2-1.<\/p>\n
After issuing a walk to Eugenio Suarez, Bender spiked a first-pitch slider to Steer that allowed De La Cruz to score on a wild pitch.<\/p>\n
Cincinnati then scored four more in the 10th on a Nathaniel Lowe RBI single, McLain two-run double and De La Cruz RBI groundout.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt hurts,\u201d McCullough said. \u201cIt does.\u201d<\/p>\n
Will the decision weigh on McCullough, especially considering the result of the game?<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of decisions that go throughout the course of the game and through the course of the season that do weigh on you,\u201d McCullough said. \u201cFor this one to turn and not end up in our favor certainly doesn\u2019t feel great. To come here and answer that is certainly part of it, and I don\u2019t feel great about how it finished for us. … Losing the game is, for me, what stings the most.\u201d<\/p>\n
And for Alcantara?<\/p>\n
\u201cJust gotta get ready for my next outing,\u201d he said. \u201cGet back tomorrow and fight the same way we did today.\u201d<\/p>\n