Marlins Ace Sandy Alcantara Throws 100-Pitch Shutout In Wicked Fast Game

Since the game didn’t drag, so we won’t either.

The Miami Marlins defeated Minnesota, 1-0, and only needed an hour and 57 minutes to do it behind a sensational pitching performance by Sandy Alcantara. Avisail Garcia’s solo homer in the 2nd inning for the Marlins proved crucial in the final.

Miami’s ace was so dominant Tuesday that he had the Minnesota team back to the locker room just two hours after the first pitch.

Alcantara’s line on his 100-pitch day was nuts: 9.0 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks, 0 R.

Sandy Alcántara shutout!

Sandy's pitches per inning:
0⃣9⃣ in the 1st
1⃣2⃣ in the 2nd
1⃣8⃣ in the 3rd
0⃣8⃣ in the 4th
0⃣4⃣ in the 5th
1⃣4⃣ in the 6th
1⃣6⃣ in the 7th
1⃣2⃣ in the 8th
0⃣7⃣ in the 9th
💯 Total 😮pic.twitter.com/VT8puizxot

— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) April 5, 2023

Alcantara’s shutout in a wickedly fast contest became the first sign of new normalcy in MLB’s nascent pitch-clock era. When pitchers get hot, the game will advance as such.

It was one of the quickest games in MLB history. The game topped Saturday’s Opening Day Guardians game, which ran for two hours and four minutes, for the fastest contest of the new season.

The record for the shortest MLB game still goes to a 2005 Seattle Mariners home game that lasted one hour and 39 minutes. However, in this new era of clock management, that record is bound to be broken … the clock is ticking.

Now the argument to be made with such a quick contest is fans’ perception of whether they’re getting their money’s worth when they attend ball games.

Then again, if an elite performance by a pitcher now means games fly by and can fit within a two-hour window, the game now seems more accessible to fans on tight windows. In this pitch clock era, it’s better to hit a quick baseball game rather than strapping down in a theater for three hours to watch the latest Marvel movie. Or in any era, really.

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