Sandy Alcantara pitched seven strong innings against the franchise that signed him out of the Dominican Republic at age 17 as the host Miami Marlins defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 6-2 on Wednesday night.

Alcantara (7-11) allowed five hits, one walk and two runs (one earned) while registering a season-high nine strikeouts. He threw 114 pitches, his largest workload since undergoing elbow surgery late in the 2023 season that cost him all of 2024.

Marlins rookie shortstop Maximo Acosta -- who had been hitless in his first eight MLB at-bats -- broke that streak with a 418-foot homer to center in the sixth. Heriberto Hernandez, another Marlins rookie, went 3-for-4 with two RBIs.

Wednesday was one of the few times this year that Alcantara (6.04 ERA) has lived up to his Cy Young-Award form o

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