Marlins’ McCullough, Perez discuss decision to lift Perez six outs from perfection
Eury Perez’s chance at immortality, his opportunity to join one of the most exclusive clubs in baseball history, was stymied Sunday — not by the opponent but by his own manager.
Just six outs from becoming the first Marlins player and the 25th person to pitch a perfect game in the big leagues, Perez was lifted by manager Clayton McCullough after seven flawless innings against the A’s.
The Marlins led 8-0 at the time of his exit and survived dismal outings by relievers Lake Bachar and Peter Fairbanks to win 9-8 and sweep the series, capping a 7-3 road trip.
Perez had thrown 92 pitches at the time of his departure, and McCullough said he didn’t want him to exceed that, even though he was clocked as high as 97.9 mph during the seventh inning.
“Ninety-plus was the number of pitches I was going to feel comfortable with letting him throw today,” McCullough said. “And that was going to be what was going to guide the decisions I made with him at any part of the game.”
But why not allow him to start the eighth and make the decision whether to lift him after each batter?
“No consideration there,” McCullough said.
“Us looking to play beyond the regular season, Eury’s going to be an important part of that. He had it really going today, and I totally get it; and there was a part of my heartstrings pulling at his opportunity to keep on going, but I think I have to think about Eury, one, and our organization, our team, and what’s best moving forward to give us a chance to continue to win games. So I made more of a calculated decision with where he was with the pitch count to take him out.”
Perez, who was making his third start after missing a month with a thigh injury, took the decision in stride.
Through team interpreter Luis Dorante Jr., Perez told reporters in Sacramento that when McCullough approached him after the seventh inning “I knew it was going to be like that, and I told him that I understood, and that this was part of the plan. I took it in a good way.”
Perez handled the decision more cheerfully than fans in Sacramento, which is serving as the A’s temporary home while their new ballpark is being constructed in Las Vegas.
Fans cascaded the Marlins with boos when Perez didn’t take the mound to start the eighth, and chanted “shame” and booed more as Bachar was torched for five runs in the eighth.
“I did feel bad, because they’re booing the manager, they’re booing my teammate,” Perez said via MLB.com. “It’s something that doesn’t feel good, but I think they don’t know the inside that we know, right?
“That information, which I’m coming from an injury, we had a plan of 90 pitches and all that. But I’m very proud of my team, and very proud of my manager, mostly the communication that we have. That’s very important. The communication that we always have. And then, as I mentioned, we had a plan of 90 pitches.”
This was Perez’s third start after missing four weeks with a thigh muscle strain. He threw 68 pitches in 4 ⅔ innings in his first start back (against Texas) and 86 in 5 ⅓ in his second start (against Colorado).
His high pitch count for the season, and his career, was 102 in a May 17 loss to Tampa Bay.
Perez’s final line: seven innings, no hits, no walks, eight strikeouts. Just four balls were hit hard, and 56 of his 92 pitches were strikes. He’s now 5-6 with a 3.84 ERA in 15 starts this season and 17-18, with a 3.75 ERA, in 54 career starts for Miami.
“This is a version of Eury that we’ve seen trending, and today was, certainly, probably, the best combination of everything together, and his ability being behind in some counts to make a pitch and get people off the barrel,” McCullough said. “That’s the exciting part is just prior to the IL stint, and since he’s come back, he’s filled up the zone at a much better rate. The stuff has been fantastic.”
Per ESPN, Perez became only the third pitcher since 1900 to be removed from am ongoing perfect game after at least seven innings. The others: Rich Hill in 2016 and Clayton Kershaw in 2022.
The last Marlins starter to go seven innings without allowing a baserunner was Kevin Brown in 1997; he threw a no-hitter that day against the Giants.
McCullough’s decision triggered a backlash on social media.
Marlins TV voice Kyle Sielaff, who did not call the game because it was a Peacock exclusive telecast, pushed back at fans criticizing the decision, posting on X that there’s “a startling amount of brain dead people on here today….You’d all be the first to chastise Clayton if he left him out there and he got hurt.”
Soon after, Sielaff posted “I shouldn’t have said that because it was rude, and I love all you fans. However, I don’t understand the hate for Clayton and the bashing he takes.”
McCullough has guided the Marlins to a remarkable turnaround. Miami is now 23-8 since June 1 and stands seven games above .500 (49-42) for the first time this season entering a six-game homestand that begins at 6:40 p.m. Tuesday against Seattle (Marlins.TV). Miami then hosts Cleveland for three-games before the All Star break.
The Marlins smashed 12 home runs against the A’s, their most ever in a three-game series. That brought their season total to 91, which is third fewest in the NL.
But the Marlins are in the top half of the league in most key categories. Among them: They’re first in stolen bases (97), third in doubles (156), fourth in ERA (4.07), and fifth in on-base percentage (.331).
They have the National League’s leading hitter (Otto Lopez, at .346) and two players (Lopez and 9-1 Max Meyer) heading to the July 14 All Star game in Philadelphia.
And most significantly, they’re just percentage points behind St. Louis (which is also seven games above .500) for the NL’s third wild card, 1.5 games behind the Cubs and Phillies, who hold the other wild cards at the moment.
This story was originally published July 6, 2026 at 12:08 PM.
