MIAMI -- Maximo Acosta, ranked the Marlins' No. 25 prospect, and veteran right-hander Sandy Alcantara exhibited moments of catharsis to rival a Shakespearean play in Wednesday night’s 6-2 victory over the Cardinals at loanDepot park.
Acosta, who had opened his Major League career hitless through eight at-bats, felt pressure to achieve the milestone as the days passed. Acosta’s comfort level began to sink in when he reached on a walk in his second plate appearance on Wednesday. He shook hands with first-base coach Tyler Smarslok and even received encouraging words from fellow Venezuelan and Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras.
And then, with Miami up two with one out in the sixth, Acosta crushed righty Andre Pallante’s 94.5 mph four-seamer to straightaway center for a solo homer. A jubilant Acosta celebrated on his trip around the bases, as did his wife, son, agent and agent’s wife in the stands.
“I'm thinking of my [late] father [Maximo] right there,” Acosta said. “That's the only memory in my mind, is that my father, my mom [Suyin] is not here. So it's a special night, a special homer.”
According to Elias Sports Bureau, Acosta is the first Marlin to homer for his first hit since Jerar Encarnacion (June 19, 2022). He also became the fourth Marlin to start at a different position in each of his first three games (second base, third base and shortstop).
Making the occasion even more memorable was Alcantara presenting Acosta with the baseball inside the postgame clubhouse.
“Super special, because I grew up seeing Sandy, watching him play, and I feel really happy for that,” Acosta said.
Alcantara, meanwhile, put together arguably the best performance of his 2025 campaign: He set season highs for strikeouts (nine), pitches (114) and matched his season high for innings (seven). When Alcantara fanned Iván Herrera to close out his start, the usually stoic Alcantara showed emotion coming off the mound.
“I didn't know that I had that energy inside me,” Alcantara said. “So I’ve just got to let it go out today. Too many pitches in the game. So just got to show them that I was competing, and I want to win the battle, and I did it.”
The 29-year-old Alcantara, who moved into second place in franchise history with 163 starts, fittingly did so while facing the organization that dealt him to Miami in December 2017. St. Louis tagged Alcantara for just two runs (one earned) on five hits and one walk. He had some extra juice in the tank on a first-inning pitch to Alec Burleson, when he hit 100 mph for just the second time this season.
In the early going, Wednesday’s series finale was reminiscent of Alcantara’s start last Friday at Fenway Park, where he took a perfect game into the fifth inning. This looked more like 2022 Cy Young Award winner Alcantara rather than the 2025 version that is coming back from Tommy John surgery.
The 114 pitchers thrown were the most by Alcantara since Aug. 12, 2023, in a complete game win over the Yankees (116). Including Friday’s start, this is the first time he has gone at least seven frames in consecutive outings since the 2023 season (July 26 and Aug. 1).
“His stuff seemed to be at its best there at the end,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “Even as things have gone this year, Sandy hasn't forgotten how to compete. He knows moments, and he knew that was a moment there, and you saw him dig down and empty it out. I think that was just him getting out a ton of frustration, and just in a moment to finish that the way he did, getting a strikeout.”
After posting a 7.22 first-half ERA in the 18 starts, Alcantara has improved drastically, with a 3.56 second-half ERA across seven starts.
“You can tell since Opening Day, first two months, I was getting tired quick, but I think just been adapting to any type of situation out there, and today, you see every pitch that I throw was over 97 [mph], so I think I'm 100% healthy,” Alcantara said. “So I’ve just got to keep doing what I've been doing in my last two outings. … You guys always say this is a process, but it's not for me. So I think it's time for me to be out there like today, and just keep battling.”