WASHINGTON -- Marlins right-hander Eury Pérez has been so sharp recently that even after throwing eight straight balls to begin the third inning Friday night, you kind of liked his chances.
But all good things must come to an end.
Pérez would complete the third inning, but only after allowing five runs on four walks, a chaotic play at the plate and Brady House’s 445-foot home run in a 9-2 loss to the Nationals.
“I think [Pérez] had some walks in some previous starts coming into this, and was able to navigate around those and not give up runs,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “And tonight, [he] just wasn't able to do that.”
The 23-year-old threw 41 of his 74 pitches in the third, which was his last inning in easily his shakiest outing since returning from the injured list with a strained thigh muscle in late June. It was the Marlins’ first loss to the Nats in nine games.
Pérez still struck out five and allowed only two hits, but was quickly running out of gas by the time House connected on his long home run.
“It was a long inning, fatigue levels were high,” Pérez said through an interpreter. “I was trying to stay in the game in that inning, looking for somehow a pause, so I can take a breather. ... It was hard. After that, the manager took me out of the game, and he had all the reasons to do that.”
Xavier Edwards singled in Miami’s only run in seven innings off rookie starter Jackson Kent as the Marlins (68-67) remained four games behind the Padres for the final National League Wild Card spot and fell three behind the Diamondbacks with 27 games remaining.
In his first career win, Kent -- the Nats' No. 9 prospect, per MLB Pipeline -- allowed three hits and four walks.
“I think he kept us off the barrel,” McCullough said. “A lot of ground balls, a lot of weak contact. How he used the changeup and really mixed all of his stuff in. So, just all around, not a great night for us.”
Heriberto Hernández clubbed his 21st home run -- and third in six games -- off reliever Max Kranick in the eighth inning, after Washington tacked on four more runs in the bottom of the seventh against Patrick Monteverde.
Entering Friday, Pérez had pitched to a 1.80 ERA in 11 previous starts. Even then, he had occasional issues with his command, issuing three or more walks in four of those outings.
Yet, Pérez had generally recovered from them and looked capable of doing the same on Friday. He struck out Abimelec Ortiz on three pitches, and then received what appeared to be a critical break when his catcher Joe Mack won an ABS challenge by millimeters, turning a full count into a called third strike on Dylan Crews.
But Pérez couldn’t capitalize, throwing a wild pitch to Daylen Lile and hesitating while breaking toward home. Mack received a favorable carom off the backstop, but threw above his 6-foot-8 pitcher as Andrés Chaparro slid into home. After Mack’s hurried scoop throw landed in the infield grass, Jacob Young also scored to put Washington up 2-1.
“I was confident that I was going to be able to get out of the inning,” Pérez said through an interpreter. “Pitching from the windup position, I think I feel a little bit better. Then the wild pitch happened, and I had to throw from the stretch. And it made it a little more difficult for me to finish the inning there."
Absorbing the impact from Chaparro’s slide, Pérez remained in the game after a brief visit from medical staff, only to walk Lile and then leave a 2-1 sinker up that House hammered into the top reaches of the picnic-porch seating in left-center.
“I think there's only so long in this league where you can dance around that number of free passes,” McCullough said. “The stuff at times to be able to get himself out of some of those jams. And he almost did tonight, but you put yourself in that spot often enough and it's going to come back to bite you.”