Alcantara sharp as Marlins shut down Giants

*Photo from TSN*

   If the Miami Marlins are playing like this, it's gonna be a long night for their opponent. Jacob Stallings brought in the winning run, Jesus Aguilar doubled in a run, and the Marlins shut out the San Francisco Giants with a 3-0 victory on Thursday night in Miami.

   Lately, it's been tough sledding for the Marlins, having lost 6 of their last 10 games, but they brought their A game to open this series with the Giants. The offense got just enough runs in support, and the pitching was dominant, with the Marlins improving to 21-28 this season.

   In the second inning, Stallings got the Marlins on the board, singling to left field, scoring Avisail Garcia to put the Marlins ahead 1-0. It stayed that way until the 6th inning, when Aguilar doubled in Jorge Soler to double the lead to 2-0. Aguilar then scored on an RBI single from Miguel Rojas, making it a 3-0 lead, which was enough for the pitching staff.

   Starting and getting the win for the Marlins was Sandy Alcantara, who improved to 6-2 this season. Alcantara notched 7 shutout innings, allowing 3 hits and two walks while striking out 8 hitters. Steven Okert fired a scoreless 8th inning out of the bullpen, and Tanner Scott picked up his second save of the season with a shutout 9th inning.

   Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of Alcantara's start that "We’ve seen Sandy enough now and know that as the game gets going, he just almost gets better at the end. It gets easier for him. It’s easy to send him back out and trust that he’s good."

   For the Giants, it was Alex Wood on the bump, and he turned in a quality start despite the loss. Wood allowed two runs on 4 hits over 5 1/3 innings. Camilo Doval allowed one run while finishing the 6th inning, before Sam Long pitched two shutout innings to end the game.

   Asked about the loss after the game, Wood said that "Obviously, you want to take care of those teams. I think we're just starting to put all of it together. Anytime you face a guy like Sandy, he's pretty good. So there's not gonna be a whole lot of room for error."

   Up next, the Marlins and Giants continue their series on Friday night. Elieser Hernandez takes the mound for the Marlins, while the Giants counter with Alex Cobb.