MIAMI, FL—One night after Agustín Ramírez walked off the New York Yankees in what was the most exhilarating game of the season, he made an even bigger impact with his bat on Saturday. With a pair of solo home runs, the “Gus Bus” singlehandedly accounted for all of the offense in the Marlins’ 2-0 victory, which clinched their sixth straight series win. The Marlins are now one game under .500 at 54-55.

Ramirez was one of three players acquired last season in the trade that sent Jazz Chisholm Jr. to the Yankees. As a rookie, he is now slashing .244/.289/.471/.760 with 17 home runs and 50 RBI—leading all National League rookies in both categories.

“I’m sure it felt even a little extra special for it to happen against his former former organization,” said manager Clayton McCullough. “Put great swings on both of those, hit out to left-center field and we’ve seen Gus do some really incredible things throughout the season. Offensively, we’ve seen his ability to impact and we believe that his offensive ceiling is not close yet. We’re going to see continue to see a better version of him as he gets more at-bats. He understands how people are pitching him in situations and there’s always a threat when Gus is in the box.”

 

Eury Pérez‘s awesome outing went under the radar because of Ramírez’s afternoon, but the Marlins starter went six shutout innings, allowing two hits, three walks and struck out five. He generated 13 total whiffs, with five each on both the four-seam fastball and slider. Pérez’s only struggle was falling behind in the count, posting a 47.6% first-pitch strike rate. His season average entering Saturday’s start was 60.5%.

“He’s got terrific stuff and it can be a tough lineup to navigate with their ability to control the strike zone very well,” said McCullough. “Historically, it’s a group that forces you into the zone, and that’s the place you have to get them out. I think Eury over the whole outing did enough work to get them engaged into at-bats…I think it was just when he needed to make some pitches, he did after that first inning.”

In that first inning McCullough is referring to, Pérez had to ask for time on three separate occasions due to PitchCom communication issues. “None of the PitchComs were working around the infield,” Pérez told the media in Spanish. “We talked to the umpire and he told me that if I ask for time again, he was going to charge me with a ball. At the end, we decided to just to go with signaling in our hands.”

Pérez, who is the youngest pitcher on any MLB team’s active roster, has been on a dominant run. Per the Marlins, he is the first pitcher in Marlins history to allow 15 hits or fewer while posting a sub-1.50 ERA in a span of six starts. And yet, he seemingly does not get anywhere close to the same national recognition as Milwaukee Brewers All-Star Jacob Misiorowski, for example.

“I don’t know if they forgot about me, but if they did, we are beginning to make sure that they do know who I am,” Pérez said in Spanish. “Every time I go out there, I try to perform to the best of my capabilities. We’re going to continue doing that.”

A big reason for Pérez’s success was the defense behind him, primarily Xavier Edwards deking Chisholm in the top of the second inning. With one out and Chisholm on first, Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt hit a pop-up just a few feet beyond the edge of the infield dirt. Edwards noticed Chisholm straying too far off the bag, and after making the catch, he quickly threw to first before Chisholm could get back, ending the inning.

Following the game, Chisholm confirmed with the media that he was under the impression that Edwards would drop the ball on purpose.

“Already playing with both of the middle infielders out there, I saw something that I thought they were going to do. He deked it like he was going to what I thought he was going to do, but he didn’t do it. I’m still trying to be aggressive because I’ve played here before and I know how the field played, but sometimes you get aggressive and you get caught up and you make an out.”

Ronny Henriquez, Tyler Phillips and Calvin Faucher threw one scoreless inning apiece in relief of Pérez. They retired all nine batters they faced.

The Marlins will look to sweep the Yankees for the first time in franchise history. Edward Cabrera will toe the rubber with Luis Gil, who will be making his 2025 season debut. First pitch is at 1:40 pm.