Eury Perez, with help from his outfield, pitches a gem and gets a Marlins win
The Miami Marlins have been yearning for some semblance of consistency from Eury Perez this season. The 23-year-old right-handed pitcher oozes with potential but has yet to live up to it throughout the campaign.
His performance on Friday is one the Marlins hope he can build upon.
Perez had perhaps his best outing of the season, holding the New York Mets to just one run over 6 1/3 innings as the Marlins opened a three-game series against their National League East rival with a 2-1 win at loanDepot park.
The Marlins improve to 23-29 on the season. The Mets fall to 22-29 and are in last place in the NL East.
Perez struck out five, didn’t issue a walk for the first time this season and gave up just two hits in his second-longest appearance in 11 starts. His lone blemish came on a two-out home run in the first inning by Juan Soto, who crushed a middle-middle fastball a projected 449 feet to right-center field.
Perez faced the minimum after that, with the other hit he allowed — a fourth-inning single to Soto — erased by a double play.
He also had help from his outfield, both defensively and at the plate, to pick up his first win since April 19, snapping a stretch of five consecutive losses.
Center fielder Jakob Marsee made a pair of big catches at the wall — robbing Carson Benge of a pair of hits in the first and sixth innings.
Meanwhile, corner outfielders Esteury Ruiz and Owen Caissie generated Perez’s run support.
The Marlins tied the game at 1-1 in the second after Ruiz doubled, stole third and scored on a Caissie groundout. They then took the lead when Ruiz hit a fourth-inning triple and scored on a Caissie single up the middle.
Andrew Nardi, Michael Petersen and Pete Fairbanks combined for 2 2/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen, with Fairbanks picking up his sixth save of the season and first since April 22 before he landed on the injured list with nerve irritation.
This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 9:31 PM.
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