Sandy Alcantara dominates Yankees as Marlins tie series

MIAMI — Another day, another opener.

The Yankees asked a reliever to start for the third consecutive game on Saturday, this time turning to Michael King after two samplings of Ian Hamilton. But King, a former starter, put the Yankees in an immediate hole. With Sandy Alcantara, the National League’s reigning Cy Young winner, pitching for the Marlins, Miami cruised to a 3-1, series-tying victory.

King, who the pitching-desperate Yankees may try to stretch out, woke up eager to make his first “start” since 2021. But Luis Arraez put a damper on the right-hander’s day, crushing a 409-foot, two-run homer in the first inning.

“I definitely wish I had that back,” King said of his pitch to Arraez. “I tried to go up and away with a fastball and pulled it. Looking back – and I talked to [catcher Kyle Higashioka] a little bit about it – I went front hip first pitch, and it just kind of opened him up to that inside part of the plate.”

King, who tried to mimic coming out of the bullpen in the first inning, gave the Yankees two innings and 41 pitches while allowing those two earned runs and four hits. He struck out three before giving way to Jhony Brito.

For the second straight day, the Yankees’ bulk guy — a rookie and a starter by trade — pitched well. After Randy Vásquez allowed two earned runs over 3.2 innings on Friday, Brito delivered five strong innings out of the bullpen.

The righty permitted just one run, three hits and zero walks while striking out six batters.

“His changeup was working for him. I thought he flashed probably a better breaking ball than maybe he’s had,” Aaron Boone said of Brito. “When some of their guys, especially some of their left-handed hitters, started selling out on some changeups, he did a good job of mixing in the fastball at times, too. So he gave us a good effort there, kept them down and kept us in the game there, and we just couldn’t mount enough.”

The one run Brito surrendered came on a Joey Wendle single in the fourth inning, but that proved inconsequential with Alcantara dealing.

The Marlins ace one-upped his 2021 start against the Yankees, when he struck out 10 over seven scoreless, two-hit innings. On Sunday, Alcantara finished the job, pitching a complete game while striking out 10. He also totaled five hits, two walks and 116 pitches while holding the Yankees to one run.

“He got ahead with every pitch,” said Billy McKinney, who went 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. “He threw strikes with every pitch he had. Even when he was getting in 0-2 counts, he was still attacking. He wasn’t shying away from any pitch. It was pretty impressive.”

Alcantara, who entered the game with a 4.28 ERA, assisted the Yankees’ lone run, as he issued a walk to McKinney and balked him into scoring position before Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled to get the Yankees on the board in the seventh.

McKinney did square a ball up in the ninth with a runner on, but the contact produced nothing more than a long flyout to left field.

“I was hoping so,” McKinney said when asked if he thought he had a homer. “I know it’s pretty big out there to left here. But unfortunately, it didn’t go as I was hoping. But hopefully next time.”

While Alcantara looked electric, the Yankees’ lineup failed to maintain momentum after putting up nine runs in Friday’s win. The Bombers have had trouble stringing together offensive outbursts all season, regardless of who’s on the mound.

“I don’t know about gut-punch, just because you realize you’re up against a guy that’s really capable when he’s executing at the level he is,” Boone said, referring to Alcantara. “But for us, it’s about getting wins right now. So we know we need to rack those up.

“Not that we didn’t play well, we just got held down by a pitcher on top of his game today.”

With the series knotted up, Gerrit Cole will look to continue his Cy Young-caliber campaign when he takes the mound for the Yankees on Sunday. The team is 9-1 when Cole starts after a loss this season.

Rookie phenom Eury Pérez will start for the Marlins. The 20-year-old owns a 2.79 ERA through 12 career starts.