Sandy Alcantara outlasts Dylan Cease in pitchers' duel as Marlins defeat Padres 3-2

MIAMI (AP) — Jesús Sánchez hit a two-run homer and 2022 NL Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara pitched seven innings with four strikeouts as the Marlins beat the Padres 3-2 on Wednesday afternoon.

Padres' pitcher Dylan Cease (3-10) struggled with control early, walking Miami's first two batters before Augustín Ramírez got the Marlins on the board with a single to center field that drove in Xavier Edwards.

San Diego tied things up in the fourth inning after a throwing error from catcher Nick Fortes advanced Luis Arraez to second, and Manny Machado drove him in with a single to left field. The Padres' run was swiftly put to an end, though, after a double play finished the inning with the score tied at 1-1.

The Marlins came back when Sánchez hit his ninth home run of the season on a fly ball to right field in the bottom of the fifth inning, putting Miami up 3-1. Cease retired the next two batters to escape the inning but was pulled heading into the sixth.

Josh Simpson stepped in as relief for Alcantara in the eighth and gave up a run after pinch-hitter Jose Iglesias hit a single to right field that scored Jackson Merrill. Simpson was quickly replaced by Calvin Faucher, who stranded two runners on base to maintain the one-run lead.

Faucher earned the save after throwing 1 2/3 innings to give the Marlins their second consecutive series win.

Javier Sanoja reached first base on an errant throw, and Sánchez brought two scores in on a 377-foot home run to right field, giving the Marlins an early 3-1 lead.

Alcantara led the charge for the Marlins, posting four strikeouts and zero walks in 98 pitches. He held the Padres' offense to just one run on the afternoon.

Padres' right-handed pitcher Yu Darvish (0-2, 6.08 ERA) is expected to open a four-game series against the Cardinals, while the Marlins have a day off before a three-game series with the Brewers. Miami has not yet announced a starter.

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