Reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara scattered three singles over nine innings en route to the fourth shutout of his career to lead the Miami Marlins to a 1-0 victory over the visiting Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.
Alcantara (1-0), making his second start of the season after picking up a no decision in a 5-3 Opening Day loss to the New York Mets, retired the first 11 batters he faced before yielding an infield single to Trevor Larnach. Michael A. Taylor had a line-drive single in the sixth and Carlos Correa added a single to center in the ninth for the only other Minnesota hits.
Alcantara walked one and struck out five. He threw 100 pitches in the contest, 68 for strikes.
Avisail Garcia homered in the second inning — his first extra-base hit of the season — to give the Marlins all the offense they needed to snap a three-game losing streak. He lined a 2-2 slider 388 feet into the left field bleachers. It marked the first time in five games this season that the Twins trailed in a game.
Kenta Maeda (0-1), making his first start in nearly 600 days after undergoing Tommy John surgery in September of 2021 and sitting out the entire 2022 season, allowed one run on three hits over five innings while striking out nine.
Maeda left after allowing a leadoff single to Jon Berti in the sixth and then began shaking his right arm after the pitch. He walked off with trainer Nick Paparesta but remained in the dugout.
Maeda, who last pitched in an Aug. 21, 2021, game at Yankee Stadium, threw 79 pitches, 54 for strikes. Reliever Emilio Pagan struck out two and walked one over two hitless innings while Jovani Moran finished up for the Twins with a 1-2-3 inning and one strikeout.
Minnesota played without right fielder Max Kepler, who left Monday’s win after tweaking his right knee. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said Kepler will undergo an MRI as a precaution but doesn’t anticipate he’ll miss much time. Byron Buxton also sat out the contest.
–Field Level Media
