Marlins hold – Eury Pérez retired 21 straight batters and struck out a season-high eight before the Marlins’ bid for a perfect game collapsed. Miami still held on for a 9-8 win over the Athletics, squandering an eight-run lead after Pérez was replaced in the eighth.
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Eury Pérez looked locked in so completely that it felt like the next out was inevitable.
He retired all 21 batters he faced, threw seven perfect innings, and finished with a season-high eight strikeouts. By the time Miami manager Clayton McCullough lifted him after seven, the Marlins had the chance at a perfect game—and for a while, it seemed like they might actually get it.
Instead, the night slipped away fast.
McCullough replaced Pérez to start the eighth with reliever Lake Bachar. a move that drew boos from a crowd full of A’s fans. Bachar immediately ran into trouble, issuing a leadoff walk to Lawrence Butler. Joshua Kuroda-Grauer then lined a pop-fly single into shallow right field for the A’s first hit. and Carlos Cortes followed with an RBI double.
Max Muncy walked, and Jonah Heim launched a grand slam that cut Miami’s cushion to 8-5. Bachar didn’t retire any of the six batters he faced. Brian Serven singled to chase him. and while Michael Petersen made it through the eighth without further damage. the Marlins’ eight-run lead had been turned into something fragile.
Miami added an insurance run in the ninth. That mattered because Pete Fairbanks allowed three runs, two earned, in the bottom half before closing it out. The Athletics eventually came up one run short in a 9-8 loss.
Offensively, the Marlins didn’t need perfection to control the early innings. Heriberto Hernández homered twice for Miami, which went 49-42 and has won nine of 12 overall after completing a three-game sweep. Leo Jiménez and All-Star shortstop Otto Lopez also went deep.
Lopez drove in three runs and scored twice. He and Hernández hit back-to-back homers in the sixth, and each finished with three of Miami’s 16 hits. Lopez is leading the majors with a .346 batting average and has 39 multihit games—the most before the All-Star break since Houston’s Jose Altuve had 40 in 2014.
Pérez’s outing stood out even with the late wobble. The 6-foot-8 right-hander (5-6) threw 92 pitches—his most in three starts since returning from the injured list on June 24. He missed the 2024 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Pérez had been sidelined since late May after a bizarre leg injury sustained while he was stretching in the dugout. It was also the fourth time this year he didn’t walk anyone.
The Athletics, meanwhile, were left chasing momentum they never fully lost and then couldn’t keep. Gage Jump (3-3) allowed a career-high six runs in three innings as Oakland dropped seven of eight.
Heim had a two-run single to finish with six RBIs. Hernández hit solo homers in the first and sixth, and Jiménez added a two-run drive in the third—his first home run since June 12, 2025.
Marlins and Athletics now turn the page. Miami opens its next series Tuesday in Seattle. Oakland visits the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night.
Marlins Athletics Eury Pérez perfect game Otto Lopez Heriberto Hernández Jonah Heim Lake Bachar Pete Fairbanks MLB