Eury Perez steady in return, Marlins close first half with series win over Rangers
Eury Perez pitched 4 2/3 strong innings in his return from a nearly month-long stint on the injured list and the Miami Marlins closed the first half of the 2026 regular season with a 4-2 series-clinching win over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday afternoon at loanDepot park.
The Marlins are 42-39 at the midway point of the season, marking just the 10th time in franchise has had a winning record through 81 games and first since 2023, the last time the team made the playoffs. Miami has gone 16-5 overall in June and won six of seven series.
Perez held the Rangers (38-42) to one run — a solo home run by center fielder Wyatt Langford in the fourth inning — while giving up three hits total and striking out one.
It was the 23-year-old’s first start with the Marlins since May 27, when he strained the gracilis in his inner right thigh while warming up between innings of his start against the Toronto Blue Jays. The original timeline for his recovery was eight weeks. He beat it by a month.
“My body felt the same way I was feeling before the injury,” Perez said postgame. “The goals are the same since the beginning of the season — looking good out there, attacking the zone.”
Perez made just one rehab start in Triple A Jacksonville — going 3 2/3 innings and throwing 51 pitches on Thursday — before making his big-league return.
“The potential range of time that he could [have been] down was fairly wide,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said pregame Tuesday when announcing Perez’s return, “and [it was] a unique place where he got injured, and I think that he responded very well to the initial rounds of treatment early on, and it gave us some encouragement.”
So, too, should Perez’s performance in his return. He threw 44 of his 68 pitches for strikes and didn’t issue a walk. His four-seam fastball averaged 98 mph, staying about at his season average of 98.2. He didn’t generate a lot of swings and misses — just four whiffs on 35 Rangers swings — but also only gave up just four hard-hit balls on 13 balls put in play.
It was a continuation of how Perez looked prior to the injury. He allowed just one run over 10 1/3 innings in his final two starts before being sidelined.
“Have fun,” Perez said. “That’s what I’ve been doing, just reminding myself that you have to have fun, and just not add that extra pressure to the game.”
Perez got support from both his offense and his bullpen.
After Perez gave up the home run to Langford, Miami tied the game in the bottom of the fourth on a Griffin Conine two-out RBI double that plated Otto Lopez, who walked earlier in the inning. The Marlins then took a 2-1 lead in the fifth on an Xavier Edwards RBI single that brought home Owen Caissie, who led off the inning with a single, moved to second on a Leo Jimenez walk and then to third on a Brain Navaretto sacrifice bunt.
Otto Lopez then hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning to cap scoring for Miami.
John King, Anthony Bender and Michael Petersen combined for 3 1/3 scoreless innings of relief while Pete Fairbanks held Texas to one run (a Joc Pederson leadoff home run) to earn his 12th save of the season.
Perez’s return should help stabilize Miami’s starting rotation, which has been ravaged by injuries, first to top prospect Robby Snelling (season-ending UCL reconstruction), then Perez and also Janson Junk (right shin inflammation). Miami’s rotation as it stands includes Sandy Alcantara, Perez, Max Meyer and converted reliever Tyler Phillips for four spots. The final spot has been held by Ryan Gusto, but the Marlins could opt to use an opener for Gusto or just go with a full bullpen game in that spot moving forward until Junk returns.
“I think we’ll look at the opponent,” McCullough said. “Do we want to use an opener? Do we want to think more bulk for individuals? We’ll keep everything on the table and gives us the best chance in that particular day to win.”
Up next
The Marlins are off Thursday before starting a 10-game, three-city road trip that goes through the St. Louis Cardinals (Friday through Sunday), Colorado Rockies (Monday through July 2) and Athletics in Sacramento (July 3-5).
This story was originally published June 24, 2026 at 2:39 PM.
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