The Miami Marlins seemingly fell out of favor with MLB fans after they pulled out pitcher Eury Pérez after seven perfect innings against the Athletics on Sunday. In the end, the Marlins almost blew up their lead before they hung on to a dramatic 9-8 victory.
Pérez retired all 21 batters he faced through seven innings, striking out eight while throwing 92 pitches. Marlins manager Clayton McCullough wanted to manage the 23-year-old’s workload after his recent return from injury.
After seeing the Marlins end Pérez’s bid for a historic outing, Miami Dolphins beat reporter David Furones unleashed on the organization’s poor decision-making.
“Taking Eury Perez out with a perfect game is an outrage. I don’t care what the surrounding circumstances are. Keep a Marlins reliever ready, see if Perez can retire six batters with just 20-or-so more pitches and you take him out in the event it’s broken up. Don’t deny him a shot at history. What are we doing here?” he asked.
His comment was one of many reactions from fans who joined in on criticizing Miami.
“That’s why the Marlins will always be a poverty franchise, what a damn shame,” one fan wrote.
Marlins Fans Booed Franchise After Taking Out Eury Pérez
As soon as fans got to know that Eury Pérez was not returning for the eighth inning, they started booing the franchise. Chants were directed toward the Marlins dugout after Pérez exited.
The worse part was when reliever Lake Bachar immediately walked the first batter, ending both the perfect game and no-hit bid before surrendering five runs, including a grand slam.
It was only Pérez’s third start since returning from a leg strain. He becomes only the third pitcher in MLB history to be removed after a perfect game of seven innings or more, joining Rich Hill in 2016 and Clayton Kershaw in 2022.
Pérez took the decision from the Marlins in stride.
“When I saw [McCullough] approaching, I knew it was going to be like that, and I told him that I understood, and that this was part of the plan, again,” Pérez said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “I took it in a good way.”
Talking about the booing from the fans at Sutter Health Park, Pérez acknowledged the appeal for history but added that the team had a plan.
“I did feel bad, because they’re booing the manager, they’re booing my teammate,” Pérez said. “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.”
While fans did not witness the history they were seeking, the latest start from Pérez will give him a lot of confidence going forward.
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