04/01/26 05:11:00
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04/01 17:09 CDT Marlins' Sandy Alcantara throws his 2nd career 'Maddux' and
MLB's 1st complete game of the season
Marlins' Sandy Alcantara throws his 2nd career 'Maddux' and MLB's 1st complete
game of the season
MIAMI (AP) --- Sandy Alcantara never stopped believing in himself.
Not when Tommy John surgery robbed him of the 2024 season. Not when 2025 ended
in a disappointing 11-12 record, and a 5.36 ERA.
Instead, he "always kept the faith."
Alcantara threw the first complete game of the MLB season in a 93-pitch shutout
on Wednesday, leading the Miami Marlins to a 10-0 domination of the Chicago
White Sox.
It was Alcantara's second career shutout with fewer than 100 pitches, known as
a "Maddux" in honor of Hall of Famer Greg Maddux.
Alcantara also threw his 13th career complete game and fifth shutout.
"Many negative things happened last year but that didn't hold me back trying to
be better," Alcantara said. "This year, I am going to give my best every time,
win more games and be more aggressive in counts. Today, as a club, we did a
tremendous job."
The White Sox did not have a hitter reach second as Alcantara (2-0) scattered
three singles, hit a batter and struck out seven. After a dominant outing
against Colorado in the season-opener, the 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner
extended his scoreless streak to 15 innings.
Alcantara used six pitches to shut down the White Sox. Although his changeup
and four-seam fastball were mostly used in his outing, Alcantara also utilized
his slider, sweeper, sinker and cutter to carve through the Chicago lineup.
"Everything was working. Everything was good today," Alcantara said. "I think I
did a great job, trying to not miss much."
Alcantara's battery mate Liam Hicks continued his torrid offensive start as he
homered, had two singles and drove in four runs to give him a major
league-leading 12 RBIs.
"It was fun," Hicks said of catching Alcantara's gem. "He had a lot of pitches
working. When you're back there and he's rolling like that, it's cool to see.
It makes your job catching easy."
As Alcantara accumulated quick outs, the decision became easier for manager
Clayton McCullough to allow his ace to pitch the ninth. With Alcantara needing
only three pitches to retire the White Sox in the eighth, it became an easy
call.
"I gave him a thumbs up and he gave me a thumbs up," McCullough said.
He called the outing remarkable.
"It's hard to do that today, to go nine innings with how you view workload,"
McCullough said. "Hitters are good. He was so efficient and guys played great
behind him."
There were 29 complete games thrown last season, and pitchers threw just 13
shutouts, the lowest in a non-shortened season since 1873.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
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