ATLANTA – Martín Pérez has perhaps been one of the Braves’ most valuable offseason acquisitions.
Pérez, who signed a Minor League contract with Atlanta in January and did not make the club’s Opening Day roster, entered Tuesday’s series opener against the Cardinals with a 3.00 ERA over 12 starts (17 appearances) this season.
Pérez allowed four earned runs on four hits with three walks and one strikeout as he moved to 6-5, and the Braves have now dropped seven of their last eight games. It was the third time this season that Pérez has allowed four earned runs in a start, though he has yet to allow more than four in any outing.
All four of Pérez’s earned runs were in the top of the fourth. After Pérez retired nine of the first 12 batters he faced, Nelson Velázquez hit a solo home run a Statcast-projected 444 feet to straight away center field.
Five batters later, with two on and two out, Nathan Church delivered the big blow -- a three-run home run that gave the Cardinals a 5-1 lead that was insurmountable for Atlanta’s suddenly struggling offense.
Church homered to right field on an 81.9 mph changeup that was low and inside to the left-handed hitter.
“It was one pitch,” Pérez said. “The sequence [I threw to Church] was bad. Too many cutters outside, and [I didn’t] show anything [inside]. When I [threw] my changeup, it was in a good spot, but he was ready for that pitch. I think that was the only bad pitch. The first homer, I was OK with that. But we have to be better with the sequencing to lefties.”
Pérez’s velocity was below his season average on all four pitches on Tuesday.
He averaged 87.5 mph with the fastball (down 1.9 mph), 83.6 mph with his cutter (down 1.9 mph), 80.1 mph with the changeup (down 2.1 mph) and 75.4 mph with his curveball (down 1.7 mph).
Lower velocity and one bad pitch aside, Pérez was one of multiple Braves starters who has not received much run support lately. Atlanta has totaled 17 runs over his last five starts dating back to June 5. The Braves went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position.
“We need to hit a little bit more,” Pérez said. “It’s not a secret. I think we [have to] do better [things] as a team. I think if we put some runners on base, we’re [going to] be fine. There’s [going to] be a game where we’re [going to] bring them in. It’s better [for this] to happen now than later.”
Pérez, who made his MLB debut in 2012, is a veteran presence in Atlanta’s clubhouse and did not express long-term concerns for an Atlanta club that has squandered a large division lead over the past month-plus.
“I’m just trying to keep the clubhouse with good energy,” Pérez said. “And the dugout, too. That’s all I can do. I’m not a hitting coach.”
Pérez was undoubtedly pitching with his home country of Venezuela on his mind. Pérez was born in Guanare, Venezuela – a town a couple hundred miles southwest of the cities of La Guaira and Caracas. On June 24, the areas surrounding La Guaira and Caracas were impacted by deadly earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5.
The earthquakes struck Venezuela just hours after Pérez made a start in San Diego.
“It’s bad, man,” Pérez said. “You see in your country [that] a lot of people [were] affected. It’s hard for me to not be out there trying to help people. I know me and my family have been doing a lot of donation stuff, but it’s still hard to get into the media – Instagram and Twitter – and see what’s [happening] there. It’s hard. It’s sad.”
On Tuesday, MLB and the MLBPA announced a joint financial donation of $1 million to the the Red Cross to help people affected by the Venezuela earthquakes.