MIAMI — Sandy Alcantara has to be wondering just what he has to do to earn a victory against his former team.
After pitching eight scoreless innings before coming out of the game, Alcantara could only watch as Nolan Arenado homered in the ninth inning to give the Cardinals the win on Wednesday night over the Marlins in Miami.
For Alcantara, it was a continuation of the bad luck he has had pitching against the Cardinals since they traded him to the Marlins in December 2017 as part of the package for Marcell Ozuna.
It was his fourth career start against the Cardinals. In those games, he is 0-3 despite allowing only three earned runs in a combined 27 1/3 innings, an ERA of 0.99. He has allowed 18 hits, walked eight and struck out 29 in those four games, including six on Wednesday night.
Arenado’s homer came three batters into the top of the ninth. His blast glanced off the glove of left fielder Jorge Soler, then hit off the top of the wall and bounced over it.
Here is how Wednesday’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals had just four hits off Alcantara, only one of which left the infield … Tommy Edman had two of the infield singles and has at least one hit in all 10 games this season. He was moved into the leadoff spot as Dylan Carlson got the day off … Their only hit out of the infield was a two-out single by Harrison Bader in the fifth … In the ninth, Tyler O’Neill drew a one-out walk before Arenado hit his fifth homer of the season. He had struck out in his three at-bats against Alcantara and had been 0-of-7 in the first two games of the series, hitting only one ball out of the infield.
On the mound: Miles Mikolas allowed four hits in his five scoreless innings. He came out of the game after a leadoff single in the sixth before Andre Pallante relieved and retired all six hitters he faced in the sixth and seventh, recording three strikeouts … Genesis Cabrera pitched around a two-out walk in the eighth and Giovanny Gallegos gave up a single and walk in the ninth before stranding the runners with a strikeout and a game-ending force out.
Key stat: Arenado’s five homers are the most after 10 games in a season in his career. He hit four in the first 10 games in 2016 for the Rockies en route to 10 homers for the month, his career high for April.
Worth noting: Carlson got the day off after going 1-of-24 in the first six games of the road trip … It was the 150th shutout caught by Yadier Molina in his career … The win was the Cardinals’ eighth in a row over the Marlins dating back to last year and they are now 12-2 in their last 14 games in Miami.
Looking ahead: Jordan Hicks will make his first career start in the series finale on Thursday night. The Cardinals are hoping he can pitch about three innings or 45 pitches.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains