Marlins pull Pérez after 7 perfect innings vs. A's...
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- Eury Pérez was lifted after seven perfect frames (8 strikeouts, 7 groundouts, 6 flyouts, 92 pitches) despite an 8-run Marlins lead, ending a bid for the franchise's first-ever perfect game in 33 years
- Reliever Lake Bachar failed to retire any of the six batters he faced in the eighth, highlighted by Jonah Heim's grand slam that cut Miami's lead to 8-5
- Closer Pete Fairbanks surrendered three runs in the ninth before finally closing out the 9-8 victory — an insurance run in the top of the ninth proving decisive
- Pérez, 23, improved to 5-6 with a 3.84 ERA and was facing the Athletics for the first time since his 2023 rookie season, his first start back after a bizarre right gracilis strain suffered while doing lateral lunges on the dugout bench in late May
- Pérez sat out all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery with an internal brace and entered Sunday 16-18 lifetime with a 3.85 ERA across 53 major league starts
- Major League Baseball has seen 24 perfect games in its history — none by a combined effort — with Domingo Germán's gem against Oakland on July 28, 2023 the most recent
Why it matters: Clayton McCullough's decision to pull Pérez at 92 pitches denied the Marlins — a franchise without a perfect game in 33 years — their best shot at history, and the bullpen nearly justified the removal anyway by turning an 8-run cushion into a one-run save. Across 53 career starts, Pérez has now shown the ceiling that made him a top prospect, but the decision underscores how bullpen management still trumps individual milestones in modern front offices.
