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By Ben Watanabe
Contributing Sports Writer
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There's very little Sandy Alcantara hasn't done on the pitcher's mound for the Miami Marlins in his career.
On Wednesday, that list of things got even shorter.
The former Cy Young Award winner, two-time National League All-Star and franchise leader in career starts, innings pitched, strikeouts and WHIP has done just about everything in South Beach a pitcher can do, but before Wednesday, he had never closed a game in a save situation. So when manager Clayton McCullough called to the bullpen for his ace in the bottom of the ninth inning, it was something entirely new.
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Alcantara, unsurprisingly, sat down the Arizona Diamondbacks to give Miami a 4-3 victory and notch the first save of the 31-year-old's decorated Marlins tenure.
"I've been here since 2018 and I've seen everything this organization has been through," Alcantara said, according to MLB.com's Michael Reynolds. "I want to die out there for my team. That's why I'm here. I want to compete. I want to win. So every time they give me this opportunity, I will take it."
Alcantara's save was even more impressive considering he'd just started a game two days earlier. According to MLB.com's Reynolds, Alcantara became the first pitcher since 1975 to record a save on a day he shared the season lead in innings pitched.
Well out of the playoff hunt, the Marlins celebrated their leader's accomplishment as if they'd just won a postseason game. Starting pitcher Ryan Gusto dubbing Alcantara "an inspiration" indicated just how highly esteemed the right-hander is in the clubhouse.
Alcantara still has a long way to go to ever become the franchise leader in saves -- Robb Nen is comfortably ahead with 108 -- but he's still finding new ways to leave his mark on the team.
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