MIAMI — Sandy Alcantara threw the first complete game of the MLB season in a 93-pitch shutout to lead the Miami Marlins over the Chicago White Sox 10-0 on Wednesday.
It was Alcantara’s second career complete-game shutout with fewer than 100 pitches, known as a “Maddux” in honor of Hall of Famer Greg Maddux. It was his 13th career complete game.
“Many negative things happened last year but that didn’t hold me back trying to be better,” said Alcantara, who went 11-12 with a 5.36 ERA in 2025. “This year, I am going to give my best every time, win more games and be more aggressive in counts. Today, as a club, we did a tremendous job.”
The White Sox did not have a hitter reach second as Alcantara (2-0) scattered three singles, hit a batter and struck out seven. After a dominant outing against Colorado in the season-opener, the 2022 National League Cy Young Award winner extended his scoreless streak to 15 innings.
Alcantara used six pitches to shut down the White Sox. Although his changeup and four-seam fastball were mostly used in his outing, Alcantara also utilized his slider, sweeper, sinker and cutter to carve through the Chicago lineup.
“Everything was working. Everything was good today,” Alcantara said. “I think I did a great job, trying to not miss much.”
Said catcher Liam Hicks: “It was fun. He had a lot of pitches working. When you’re back there and he’s rolling like that, it’s cool to see. It makes your job catching easy.”
Hicks homered, had two singles and drove in four runs to increase his major league-leading count to 12 RBIs. Otto Lopez also went deep and Graham Pauley doubled twice for the Marlins, who ended the homestand 5-1, their best start since 2020.
The Marlins struck quickly against White Sox starter Shane Smith with a four-run first. Hicks hit an RBI single and Connor Norby followed with a run-scoring double. They both scored on Owen Caissie’s single.
Hicks made it 6-0 with a two-run blast in the second. He drove Smith’s slider over the wall in right for his third homer.
Javier Sanoja’s two-RBI single in the third padded the lead.
Miami added two runs late when Hicks hit an RBI single in the sixth and Lopez connected off White Sox reliever Jordan Leasure in the eighth.
As Alcantara accumulated quick outs, the decision became easier for manager Clayton McCullough to allow his ace to pitch the ninth. With Alcantara needing only three pitches to retire the White Sox in the eighth, it became an easy call.
“I gave him a thumbs up and he gave me a thumbs up,” McCullough said.
There were 29 complete games thrown last season, and pitchers threw just 13 shutouts, the lowest in a non-shortened season since 1873.
“It’s hard to do that today, to go nine innings with how you view workload,” McCullough said. “Hitters are good. He was so efficient and guys played great behind him.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
