The Marlins displeased the baseball gods on Sunday and discovered the consequences of such a misstep.
Marlins starting pitcher Eury Perez began his day on the bump with a 1-2-3, nine-pitch first inning against the Athletics. It was a harbinger of good things to come for the Miami righthander. Perez struck out a pair in the second and third innings, had a 15-pitch fourth, another quick fifth and struck out a pair once again in the sixth. 18 up, 18 down for Perez through six on 83 pitches. The Marlins offense had also came to play, building an 8–0 lead up to that point.
Given the age of bullpens, analytics and Perez's higher pitch count, there were certainly some doubts as to if the righthander was going to be able to complete the perfect game. He seemed to curtail those doubts with a nine-pitch seventh inning, leaving him at 92 pitches.
Unfortunately, the Marlins' concerns were not assuaged, as television cameras spotted Miami manager Clayton McCullough having a chat with his starter and giving him a hug in the dugout, seemingly indicating his day was done and he would unfortunately not get the chance to complete the perfect game.
That was indeed the case, as relief pitcher Lake Bachar was out on the mound for the Marlins for the bottom of the eighth inning. Then, two remarkable things happened.
First, Athletics fans at Sutter Health Park immediately started up a “Shame!” chant aimed at McCullough and the Marlins, expressing their disapproval with the decision to remove Perez from the game. Yes, even the fans of the team on the wrong side of a perfect game wanted the opposing pitcher to stay in the game. You can’t blame them for wanting to see just the 25th perfect game in MLB history, and the first since 2023.
A's fans voiced their displeasure on behalf of Eury Perez afted he was pulled after seven perfect innings with 92 pitches
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 5, 2026
The Marlins bullpen immediately blew the perfect game by allowing a walk, and then a single to end the no-hitter too pic.twitter.com/nErzj6oFYR
The baseball gods then expressed their displeasure with the decision. Bachar lost the strike zone and walked Athletics leadoff man Lawrence Butler to a chorus of boos at Sutter Health Park. Perfect game gone. But at least there was still a no-hit—boom, Bachar surrendered a single to the ensuing batter, infielder Joshua Kuroda-Grauer. No-hitter gone. Things were about to get even worse. A double, a walk, and a grand slam later, Bachar had not only lost the poerfect game and the no-hitter, he'd lost the shutout while surrendering five runs without picking up a single out.
Marlins bullpen has allowed five runs without recording an out after Eury Perez was pulled following seven perfect innings pic.twitter.com/ys1nLCAnL6
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 5, 2026
At that point, McCullough had seen enough. He pulled Bachar in favor of Michael Peterson, who got two quick outs via a groundball and a strikeout to mercifully end the inning. But the baseball gods deemed the Marlins hadn't suffered enough for their transgression.
Closer Pete Fairbanks entered the game in the bottom of the ninth inning with a four-run lead after the Marlins scratched across an insurance run in the top half of the inning. That proved to be invaluable.
Fairbanks allowed a single to the Athletics' Zack Gelof and a double to Lawrence Butler, then saw a run cross the plate on a passed ball by Marlins catcher Joe Mack. That made it a 9–6 ballgame. Fairbanks seemed to right the ship when he struck out Kuroda-Grauer and got Carlos Cortes to pop out to second. But a walk to Max Muncy inexplicably brought the tying run to the plate. Fairbanks served up a two-run single to the ensuing batter, Jonah Heim, before he finally got Brian Serven to ground out to end the game—and the Marlins' suffering.
Why did Clayton McCullough pull Eury Perez with a chance at a perfect game?
There have only been 24 perfect games in baseball history. There have been 327 no-hitters recognized by MLB. Why would McCullough deny Perez a chance at achieving something so rare? Well, for starters, he was likely being mindful of Perez's pitch count, just as he would have with any other pitcher.
But he was being even more cautious with Perez given that this was just his third start since returning from the 15-day injured list due to a strained right gracilis in his inner thigh. He had thrown 68 pitches in his first start back on June 24 and another 86 in his second on June 30 before the 92 he threw on Sunday.
“Going into this game, 90-plus a batter was a pitch count that I felt comfortable with him coming back off of the time on the IL and us looking to play beyond the regular season, Eury's going to be an important part of that,” McCullough said according to Jeremiah Geiger. ”So, yeah, he had it really going today. And I totally get it.
“There was a part of my heartstrings pulling at his opportunity to keep on going, but 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 made more of a calculated decision with where he was with the pitch count to take him out.”
Clayton McCullough spoke with the media after Sunday’s win and the decision to pull Eury Perez during a perfect game. #Marlins @FishOnFirst pic.twitter.com/XXTdonh9RA
— Jeremiah Geiger (@JeremiahGeiger2) July 6, 2026
Given the Marlins' recent surge up the standings into playoff contention—Miami owns the best record in baseball since the start of June—and Perez's promising start to the 2026 campaign, McCullough clearly opted to play the long game rather than make a run at history.
It's reasoning that likely won't be pleasing to baseball fans, nor, apparently, the baseball gods.
