Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara earned his first career save Wednesday night, closing out a 4-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix. Just two days after throwing 101 pitches in a no-decision, the 31-year-old right-hander worked a scoreless ninth inning. Alcantara, who leads the majors with 206 innings pitched this season, said he felt "great" after the outing.

Manager Clayton Mc Cullough said Alcantara volunteered to help out after telling pitching coach Daniel Moskos he was available. The Marlins are clinging to faint playoff hopes, trailing San Diego by 7½ games for the final National League wild card with nine games remaining. Miami used eight pitchers in an 11-inning victory Tuesday.

Alcantara, a two-time All-Star and 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner, is 13-10 with a 3.84 ERA in 32 starts. He made 201 big-league starts and eight previous relief appearances all came as a rookie with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2017. Mc Cullough said Alcantara will start Sunday in San Diego as scheduled, but the pitcher said he's ready if needed before then.