Sandy Alcantara Claims Two More Career Milestones in Victory over Pirates

The Miami Marlins starter claimed two more milestones on Friday, one for the franchise and one for his native country.

Miami Marlins starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

These days, Miami Marlins starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara can’t help but set more career milestones.

In his last start he moved into third place all-time in Marlins history for most wins in a career. On Friday against the Pittsburgh Pirates, he crossed two different thresholds.

The first was in career strikeouts. The second was in number of innings thrown in a game. Both helped lead the Marlins to a 8-3 win and a .500 record for the first time since April.

Sandy Alcantara’s Latest Milestones

Punchout No. 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ https://t.co/T95EqoQjlJ pic.twitter.com/wKiwrq6r5l

— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) June 12, 2026

Alcantara pitched eight innings, giving up five hits and three earned runs as he struck out seven and walked one. He finished the game with an ERA of 4.25 and improved his record to 6-4 for the season.

By pitching eight innings in that game, he threw at least eight innings in a start for the 33rd time in his career. Per Marlins Communications on X (formerly Twitter), he tied left-handed pitcher Dontrelle Willis for the most such outings by a starter in Marlins history.

The other milestone reached beyond the Marlins. With the seven strikeouts he moved past 1,000 strikeouts for his career. He reached the milestone with his second strikeout of the game.

By reaching 1,000 strikeouts, he became the fifth active Dominican-born pitcher, and 26th all-time, to reach the milestone. He still needs a few more to pass Ricky Nolasco as the franchise’s all-time leader in career strikeouts. Nolasco had 1,001. Alcantara started his career with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Miami has found a groove in June. The Marlins have lost one game since the start of the month and have reached .500 (35-35) for the first time since April 24. With Friday’s win, they now have a chance to get one game over .500 for the first time since April 13.

Miami has done it the past couple of weeks with Alcantara and Max Meyer, who is undefeated and the Marlins have not lost a game with him as a starter. The rest of the rotation is made up of spot starter, bulk relievers and single inning options as the Marlins wait for Janson Junk and Eury Perez to return from the injured list.

Meanwhile, Alcantara has been a rock for Miami and his performance, combined with the team’s surge this month, is making it harder for the franchise to consider trading the 2022 National League Cy Young winner at the deadline in August, even though he would fetch a haul in prospects.