Miami, Florida – In spite of another absolute gem from Sandy Alcantara, the New York Yankees took advantage of the bullpen to win 3-1 sweeping the Marlins. Miami took an encouraging early lead only to do little else as the Bronx Bombers found a way late to flip the game in their favor.
Fans were treated to an impressive pitcher’s duel between Alcantara and Jordan Montgomery. Both hurlers restrained opposing hitting through five innings before Montgomery was replaced by Clay Holmes. Sandy, meanwhile, kept on going punching out 10 after seven frames. The Sand Man bullied the Yankees all day, sitting down Aaron Judge twice in front of over 20,000 in attendance. In fact, out of the entire starting lineup, only Anthony Rizzo avoided getting K’ed.
Sandy's putting on a clinic vs. #Yankees—tying a career-high 10 strikeouts! 📞
📺: Bally Sports Florida
💻: https://t.co/Di9Q06bqAt
📱: Bally Sports app#JuntosMiami #MLB pic.twitter.com/o9l6Xtpcu6— Bally Sports Florida: Marlins (@BallyMarlins) August 1, 2021
Talk about wasting the effort. While Sandy was an absolute beast tossing yet another quality start, Miami was unable to produce more runs. It came back to haunt them as usual. The worst part is I saw it coming.
A Slim Lead
The Marlins pushed across their sole run in the first. Miguel Rojas led off with a stand-up double, eventually crossing the plate on the Brian Anderson ground out. From there the opportunities became sparse.
Miami had a chance to back up Sandy in the fifth, however, they failed to convert. Bryan De La Cruz got his first career MLB hit to lead off the inning followed by Sandy Leon drawing a walk. The momentum fizzed as Montgomery retired the next three hitters culminating in Miggy Ro whiffing, stranding both runners in scoring position.
Positive Note: 🗒️
Bryan De La Cruz got his 1st #MLB hit today.#JuntosMiami pic.twitter.com/bHLo9oyriR
— Bally Sports Florida: Marlins (@BallyMarlins) August 1, 2021
The Yanks broke through with two runs in the eighth. Anthony Bass took over in relief attempting to protect the one-run lead. New York had other plans. Brett Gardner got aboard via a line drive to center field kicking off the rally. Pinch-hitter Giancarlo Stanton then reached base on a throwing error by Anderson with Gardner advancing to third on the play.
Richard Bleier replaced Bass but it didn’t matter. Rizzo and Judge hit back-to-back singles to help overtake the Marlins.
Miami Mashin' pic.twitter.com/Ct8kXbEtiy
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 1, 2021
It gets worse.
Jazz Chisholm committed two errors (fielding and throwing) on the same play in the ninth, allowing the Yankees to add an insurance run. From there Aroldis Chapman finished off the Fish for his 22nd save of the season. That’s all she wrote. Seriously, ouch.
Moving Forward
Take your place, Bryan. #JuntosMiami pic.twitter.com/TWd4wqgnF5
— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) July 31, 2021
The Marlins now stand at 44-61. Get ready for plenty of L’s incoming as the team now moves into its player evaluation phase for the rest of the season. I’m pegging them at 60-65 wins when this is all over. At this point, all fans can hope for are the occasional sparks the team will manage. And for an active offseason. A productive one, please.
It’s frustrating to see not just Sandy Alcantara’s efforts be in vain but that of the starting pitching on a regular basis because of the combined ineffectiveness of the bullpen and hitting. We knew this was going to happen. Personally, I’m keeping an eye on the new faces to see what upside they offer (if any) to the organization alongside the top-tier prospects. Outside of the Sand Man’s performance the only other positive thing today was the Marlins signing their first-round draft pick Khalil Watson. That, my friend, is something to cheer over.
Welcome to la familia, Kahlil. #305OnTheRise pic.twitter.com/aJYoXtTp8y
— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) August 1, 2021
Game Notes
Sandy Alcantara: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K
The heart of the order (BA, Jesús Aguilar, Lewis Brinson) went hitless (0-for-12).
Miami 1-for-7 with RISP
The Marlins committed three errors, two from Chisholm
Richard Bleier suffered his sixth blown save of the season
Photo | Edwin Garcia
More Stories
Tanner Scott chokes as Marcell Ozuna mashes game winning HR
Marlins best Chris Sale, win first game at loanDepot park
Raising the white flag for the Miami Marlins