MIAMI — There’s a commonly used saying in baseball: It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Six games in, however, the Miami Marlins are turning heads.
Their latest 10-0 win over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday at loanDepot park saw right-hander Sandy Alcantara toss a 93-pitch complete-game shutout in his second start of the season.
In baseball terms, Alcantara pitched a “Maddux,” which is when a pitcher throws a complete-game shutout in fewer than 100 pitches.
Miami is now 5-1, alone atop the National League East standings, and about to embark on its first road trip of the season: a three-game weekend series against the New York Yankees beginning Friday at 1:35 p.m.
Their pitching has been dominant so far.
Alcantara has pitched 16 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run, while the Marlins have also received strong starts from right-handers Eury Pérez, Max Meyer and Janson Junk.
Their bullpen has put up some impressive numbers, too.
Relievers Lake Bachar, Calvin Faucher, Tyler Phillips, Michael Petersen, John King, Anthony Bender, Andrew Nardi and Pete Fairbanks have combined to allow just one earned run in 17 2/3 innings.
According to Elias Sports Bureau, on March 28, closer Pete Fairbanks became the second pitcher in Marlins history to record a save in each of his first two appearances, joining right-hander Armando Benítez, who had saves in each of his first six appearances from April 6–15, 2004.
The Marlins have a +15 run differential, fueled in large part by the power of Liam Hicks, a Rule 5 Draft pick.
Hicks leads the club in batting average (.467), home runs (3), RBIs (12) and on-base percentage (.526).
On Wednesday, he set a Marlins record with 11 RBIs through his first five games to start the season, surpassing the previous mark of 10 by Casey McGehee from March 31-April 4, 2014.
The offense ranks first in the league in batting average (.290) and fourth in RBIs (33).
Miami will face stiffer competition over the next week, visiting Yankee Stadium before hosting the Cincinnati Reds for four games at loanDepot park and then heading back on the road for three against the Detroit Tigers.
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