Eury Perez dominated with seven perfect innings and the Miami Marlins smacked four homers before holding on for a wild 9-8 victory over the Athletics on Sunday at West Sacramento, Calif., to complete a three-game sweep.
The Marlins immediately lost the perfect game and no-hitter in the eighth inning once Perez was pulled as Lake Bachar walked Lawrence Butler and gave up a single to Joshua Kuroda-Grauer. Still, Miami won for the 13th time in its past 17 games to move to a season-best seven games above .500.
Perez (5-6) struck out eight while throwing 92 pitches. It’s the third time the 23-year-old has pitched seven innings in his career.
Heriberto Hernandez reached base five times on three hits and two walks, including two homers, and Otto Lopez had three hits, one homer and three RBIs to raise his major league-best average to .346.
Leo Jimenez also went deep for the Marlins, who set a franchise record with 12 homers for a three-game series.
Xavier Edwards, Liam Hicks and Brian Navarreto added two hits apiece for the Marlins.
Jonah Heim belted a grand slam and had a career-high six RBIs for the Athletics, who lost for the 11th time in 14 games.
Gage Jump (3-3) of the Athletics was roughed up for six runs and eight hits over three innings.
Amazingly, the A’s had the winning run up at the plate in the bottom of the ninth.
Trailing 9-5, Zack Gelof singled off Pete Fairbanks to start the ninth and Butler followed with a double. Gelof scored on a passed ball by Joe Mack before Fairbanks retired the next two batters.
Fairbanks then walked Max Muncy, who moved to second on defensive indifference, and Heim delivered a two-run single. Brian Serven then grounded out to end the contest.
After an afternoon of futile at-bats against Perez, the Athletics quickly rallied against Bachar.
Butler walked for the first A’s baserunner and Kuroda-Grauer followed with a high shallow pop that fell in right field for the first hit. Carlos Cortes followed with a RBI double that one-hopped the right-field wall.
After Muncy walked to load the bases, Heim unloaded them with his blast to right to make it five runs in five batters since Perez exited.
Serven followed with a bloop single to end Bachar’s outing. Michael Peterson entered and used a fielder’s choice, a caught stealing and a strikeout of Nick Kurtz to halt the uprising.
In the top of the ninth, Lopez reached on an infield hit and eventually scored on Hicks’ infield tap out.
Hernandez was the second batter of the game against Jump when he launched a 437-foot blast to center.
The Marlins tacked on two runs in the second on Lopez’s ground-rule double and Hicks’ sacrifice fly.
Jimenez’s two-run homer in the third made it 5-0. Lopez added a sacrifice fly later in the inning.
Lopez and Hernandez hit back-to-back homers off Mason Barnett in the sixth to make it 8-0.
–Field Level Media
