Sandy Alcantara comes out of the bullpen on 1 day of rest and earns 1st career save for Marlins

PHOENIX (AP) — Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara has pitched over 200 innings this season, but none of them were in a save situation until Wednesday night. For the first time in nine years, the 31-year-old right-hander came out of the bullpen and sealed a 4-3 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks. After throwing 101 pitches in a no-decision the previous day, Alcantara worked a scoreless ninth inning for his maiden major league save.

Manager Clayton McCullough explained that Alcantara volunteered to pitch in the ninth if needed, and McCullough supported his decision. Miami utilized eight pitchers on Tuesday in an 11-inning victory, and the Marlins remain in contention for the pennant, trailing San Diego by 7½ games with nine games left. Alcantara, who leads the majors with 206 innings pitched this season, walked Lars Nootbaar before concluding the game.