Eury Perez strikes out 10 but Miami Marlins swept in doubleheader against Dodgers
Eury Perez set a career high with 10 strikeouts over six shutout innings, but the Miami Marlins lost 3-1 to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday in the first game of a doubleheader at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers would later go on to win the second game of the doubleheader by an identical 3-1 score to take the series. Miami won the first game of the three-game set 11-3 on Friday behind five home runs.
The Marlins (64-61) and Dodgers (76-47) played twice on Saturday due to the expected impact of Hurricane Hilary on southern California on Sunday. MLB also moved games originally scheduled to be played Sunday at the Padres and Angels to split doubleheaders on Saturday.
Game 1 notables
The Dodgers scored three runs in the eighth inning against David Robertson to take the lead for good in the matinee. Austin Barnes tied the game at 1-1 on a squeeze bunt with runners on the corners that scored James Outman from third base. Mookie Betts followed with a go-ahead, two-run single on the next at-bat.
It spoiled a stellar outing from Perez, who got his career-best 10th strikeout with his 90th and final pitch, getting the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman to swing and miss on an elevated 97.5 mph four-seam fastball.
At 20 years and 126 days old, Perez is the youngest pitcher to have a 10-strikeout game since Felix Hernandez struck out 11 for the Seattle Mariners on Aug. 15, 2005, at 19 years and 129 days old.
It was a needed bounceback performance for Perez, Miami’s rookie right-handed pitcher who had allowed eight runs over 8 2/3 innings in his past two starts entering Saturday after being called back up to the MLB roster earlier this month. Before that, Perez had pitched to a 2.36 ERA over 53 1/3 innings in 11 starts before being sent down to the minor leagues in early July to monitor his workload.
Perez held the Dodgers to just two hits, did not walk a batter and struck out half of the 20 batters he faced. Los Angeles batters whiffed on 22 of their 47 swings against Perez.
The Marlins scored their only run on a Bryan De La Cruz fourth-inning double that scored Jake Burger, who singled one at-bat earlier.
Game 2 notables
Josh Bell hit a solo home run in the first inning, his sixth home run in 17 games since being acquired by the Marlins at the Aug. 1 trade deadline, to give Miami an early 1-0 lead in the nightcap.
It didn’t last.
The Dodgers tied the game in the second inning on a Kike Hernandez RBI single before Betts hit a pair of home runs — solo shots in the third and fifth innings — against Braxton Garrett to give the Dodgers the lead for good.
Garrett held the Dodgers to just those three runs over six innings while striking out six and not issuing a walk.
The Marlins’ offense, meanwhile, once again was quiet after the outburst on Friday.
In two combined games on Saturday, the Marlins tallied just two runs on 13 hits, went 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position and left 12 runners on base.
This story was originally published August 19, 2023 at 5:14 PM.
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