Marlins fall to Mets, but encouraged by Perez’s strong finish
Eury Pérez struck out more batters Saturday than in any previous start of his career.
He fanned 11 of them, including all three Mets — Tyrone Taylor, Francisco Lindor, and Juan Soto — he faced in the fifth, deftly dispatching Lindor with his curve, changeup, slider and four-seamer during an eight-pitch duel.
He also fired the fastest pitch of his career — a 101.5 mph four-seam fastball in the second inning that Ronny Mauricio managed to foul off.
Overall, this wasn’t the final performance Pérez had hoped to have — certainly not after not allowing an earned run in either of his two previous starts.
But it was a solid finish to the 22-year-old right-hander’s season returning from Tommy John surgery.
Pérez allowed three runs, and three hits, in 5 1/3 innings Saturday as the Marlins lost to the Mets 5-0 at loanDepot park in front of another large crowd (35,609). His 100 pitches thrown were also a career high.
“I felt healthy. My arm feels great, velocity feels great,” Pérez said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “Again, just facing a team as strong as this one felt really good to feel healthy, ending the season this way. The strikeouts, I feel proud for what I did out there. With all the strikeouts, it was amazing. And I’m feeling great finishing the season strong. I’m looking forward to continuing that growth next season.”
Saturday’s outing started out rough for Pérez. His first five pitches were balls, he threw a wild pitch, and Pete Alonso’s RBI double gave the Mets a 1-0 lead. Pérez and the Marlins were lucky to end the inning trailing by only one run.
“A lot of frustration after that first inning,” Pérez said. “I went down the tunnel. I had the pitching coach [Daniel Moskos], even the manager [Clayton McCullough] give me good words of advice, some players. I went back there with a lot of energy and decided to do well and keep the team in a good position.”
Pérez “went out there like a different guy the second inning on,” McCullough said, and “his level of conviction and aggressiveness picked up.”
“Really happy that he was able to get through a shaky first and pitch as well as he did the rest of the way,” McCullough said.
Alonso homered to left in the third to make it 2-0, Jeff McNeil hit an RBI double with two outs in the sixth to extend the lead, and the Mets tacked on two more runs in the ninth for a key win as they battle the Reds for the third and final National League wild card.
The Marlins managed just one hit — a single by Xavier Edwards in the third inning. But the story Saturday was another encouraging performance by Pérez, whose 11 strikeouts marked the fifth time this season that a Marlins pitcher tallied 10 or more in a start.
Saturday was his 20th start of the season. He finished with a 4.25 ERA.
“Eury is in a terrific place. Just to have him be able to take the ball every fifth or sixth day since he’s come back from the rehab process and to get right around over 100 innings at the major-league level sets him up well for next season,” McCullough said.
“Days like today are great for him where you’re going to have those a lot as a starting pitcher. That first inning can always be the most difficult one. He showed himself he could get through that. We certainly have high aspirations for Eury because of how talented he is and believe that the number of starts he got this year for us is really going to pay dividends as we get into [2026].”
Pérez looked back fondly on this season.
“I would say it was an excellent season coming back from Tommy John,” he said. “A lot of growth. Some really bad days. Also improving little details. I’m happy for this season.”
What’s he been pleased with in particular?
“I would say the sweeper,” he said. “The sweeper has been working really well for me. I have been improving that pitch a lot. The changeup is another pitch that I have to continue working with a lot. Mostly location control. That’s the thing I have to be working on.”
This story was originally published September 27, 2025 at 9:17 PM.
