Sandy Alcantara returned from the bereavement list to get the win, and Sandy Leon supported him with an early three-run homer to lead the Miami Marlins to a 7-3 win over the host Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night.
Alcantara (6-9), pitching for the first time since July 16, lasted six-plus innings, allowing six hits, one walk and three runs while striking out five. A trio of Marlins relievers — Anthony Bass, Anthony Bender and Dylan Floro — combined for three scoreless innings to close out the game.
Leon, a 32-year-old catcher who signed a minor league deal with Miami in January, went 2-for-5 with a season-high three RBIs and two runs scored. Leon hit four foul balls before launching his third homer of the year in the second inning to give Miami a 3-0 lead
Miami also got solo homers from Brian Anderson and Lewin Diaz. Anderson had a game-high three hits (3-for-4).
Austin Hays and Cedric Mullins hit solo homers for the Orioles.
Baltimore rookie Spenser Watkins (2-1) took his first major league loss. He had entered the game with a 1.65 ERA, allowing one earned run or fewer in each of his first three starts. On Tuesday, however, he lasted just four innings, allowing nine hits, one walk and four runs. He struck out one.
Watkins lost an eight-pitch battle with Leon in the second. With two outs and two on, Leon pulled a 2-2 hanging curve 403 feet down the right-field line to open the scoring.
Miami put together three singles in the fourth to extend its lead to 4-0. Starling Marte earned the RBI by bouncing a three-hopper just to the second-base side of shortstop Ramon Urias.
The teams then traded solo homers — Hays in the fourth, Diaz in the fifth, Mullins in the sixth and Anderson in the seventh — leaving Miami with a 6-2 lead.
Baltimore chased Alcantara in the seventh as D.J. Stewart smacked a ground-rule double to center and scored on Urias’ single. But Bass came in and retired the next three batters, keeping Miami ahead 6-3.
Miami got that run back in the eighth on Jesus Aguilar’s RBI single. Aguilar has 72 RBIs, which leads the National League.
–Field Level Media