On the day the Marlins inducted Luis Castillo as the final member of their inaugural Hall of Fame class, Miami’s young stars stepped up to deliver a 5-3 victory against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon, salvaging the finale of a three-game series
Marlins phenom Eury Pérez, 22, made the start and dominated the first-place Blue Jays early. The 6-foot-7 right-hander retired 14 of the first 15 batters he faced, including a stretch of 12 straight from the first through the fifth inning.
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Pérez leaned heavily on his electric fastball, averaging 97.9 mph and throwing it 65% of the time. He induced 12 whiffs on the pitch with three of his four strikeouts coming via the heater. Pitching with confidence, Pérez often opened at-bats with offspeed offerings before finishing hitters with the fastball.
Miami Marlins pitcher Eury Pérez (39) throws the ball during the second inning of an MLB game against the Toronto Blue Jays at loanDepot park on Sunday, August 23, 2025, in Miami, Fla.
“That was the plan I discussed with my pitching coach for today,” Pérez said. “Attack hitters as usual, but sometimes you have to go at them in a different way.”
It was one of Pérez’s sharpest outings of the season, and it came when Miami needed it most. He held Toronto scoreless through six innings.
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“He had a really electric fastball today, and his command across all his pitches was excellent,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “You could tell early on that they had to cheat a little bit to catch up to it, and he mixed in some quality changeups. He and Liam [catcher Liam Hicks] did a really nice job working through the lineup.”
On offense, another Miami youngster provided a spark. After Eric Wagaman opened the scoring with a solo shot off Kevin Gausman in the third inning, rookie Jakob Marsee delivered the game’s biggest hit — a bases-clearing, three-run triple to right-center that stretched the lead to 4-0.
Miami Marlins batter Jakob Marsee (87) reacts to a hitting a double during the seventh inning of an MLB game against the Toronto Blue Jays at loanDepot park on Sunday, August 23, 2025, in Miami, Fla.
Marsee, who finished with two hits, has been nothing short of remarkable since his call-up. His 23 RBI through his first 23 major-league games set a franchise record, surpassing Liam Hicks (17 in 2025) and Giancarlo Stanton (16 in 2010).
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Pérez ran into trouble in the seventh, giving up a leadoff single to Bo Bichette and a walk to Ty France. McCullough turned to reliever Lake Bachar, who surrendered a three-run homer that trimmed the lead to 4-3. Both runners were charged to Pérez, whose day ended with a career-high 94 pitches.
“A lot of factors go into it,” McCullough explained. “We felt Eury had enough to go back out there and get through the inning, but after those at-bats he was at 94 pitches, and we knew he wasn’t going to finish it.”
“I really wanted to finish the inning, but a few things happened there. I thought he [McCullough] would give me one more hitter but they decided not to. At the moment, it was a bit frustrating but I’m glad we got the win.”
Eury’s final line: seven innings, two hits, three runs (two earned), four strikeouts, and 62 strikes among 94 pitches.
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In the seventh, rookie catcher Agustín Ramírez added insurance with a soft RBI single to center, scoring Marsee and pushing the lead to 5-3.
From there, Miami’s relievers kept Toronto off the board, sealing a much-needed win. With the victory, the Marlins improved to 61-69 while the Blue Jays dropped to 76-55. Pérez earned his sixth win of the season and now owns a 6-3 record with a 3.44 ERA.
Up next: The Marlins close out their nine-game homestand with a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves beginning Monday. Edward Cabrera is slated to face Spencer Strider in the opener.