If you were one of the less than 10,000 fans who showed up at LoanDepot Park Wednesday night, congratulations: you saw a masterclass from Sandy Alcantara. You also saw a reminder that baseball can still find creative new ways to test our blood pressure.
Let’s get right into it. The Marlins beat the Cardinals 6-2 in a win that felt pretty convincing thanks to Alcantara, who was just flat-out dealing. Seven innings, only one earned run, a season high nine strikeouts and just one walk is a recipe for dominance. And it should’ve been even cleaner. But no, baseball doesn’t let us have nice things without a little chaos, right?
Enter Agustín Ramírez, who had one job: catch the dang ball. Strike three, swing and miss by St. Louis catcher Yohel Pozo — and Ramírez tries to frame the pitch instead of securing the out? And of course, he never actually caught the ball. So Pozo reaches first on a passed ball.
MLB Announcer Loses It
And if you thought Bally Sports Florida’s Tommy Hutton was gonna let that slide, oh no, he was not having it.
“What it does, we’ve seen a couple of instances tonight, it makes Sandy throw more pitches,” Hutton said, clearly fed up. “See, to me, DON’T TRY TO FRAME THAT PITCH! Catch it before you try to frame it!”
He’s not wrong, that third out should’ve been in the books. Instead, three batters later, Pozo comes around to score on a double from Lars Nootbaar. That’s the kind of thing that makes a pitcher want to snap a rosin bag in half.
Luckily, the Marlins’ offense came to play, and the bullpen held up, so Sandy still walked away with win number seven. But it’s wild how a moment that should’ve ended a clean inning ends up tacking on runs and drama in Major League Baseball.
