MIAMI — Marlins right-hander Eury Pérez exited his start against Toronto with a hamstring spasm after striking out a season-high nine batters over four scoreless innings, adding another blow to a rotation already gutted by injuries and roster moves.
The 23-year-old was spotted doing his normal stretching routine between innings before sitting down in visible pain. Sandy Alcantara helped Pérez down the tunnel after a member of the training staff attended to him. Pérez will undergo imaging Thursday.
“I was just having a conversation with our pitching coach and suddenly I felt tightness right there in my leg and I couldn’t get up,” Pérez said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr.
“I would say on a scale from 1-10, I would give a 10. It was very painful. I knew I was not going to be able to go out there, and that was the same thought from our coaches, and we decided to go inside and just take a look at it,” Pérez said. He added that the discomfort had dropped to seven postgame.
Pérez had some of his best stuff working in the 73-pitch outing, recording his first five outs via strikeout and throwing the second-fastest pitch of his career — a 101 mph four-seamer — to punch out former teammate Jesús Sánchez. He allowed three hits, all singles, and didn’t walk a batter for a second straight start. The outing got testy when Pérez hit Kazuma Okamoto for the fifth HBP of a Blue Jays batter over the last two games, drawing chirping from the Toronto dugout.
Right-hander Michael Petersen took over in the fifth and surrendered the game-tying run on Nathan Lukes’ two-out double off the right-center wall.
Should Pérez miss time, Miami faces a severe rotation crunch. The club designated veteran Chris Paddack for assignment earlier this month, and his replacement, Robby Snelling, underwent season-ending elbow surgery last week. The Marlins optioned lefty Braxton Garrett after two short starts in Snelling’s place and converted righty Tyler Phillips from a bullpen to starting role. Forty-man options at Triple-A Jacksonville include right-handers Bradley Blalock and Ryan Gusto and southpaw Dax Fulton.
“We don’t have anything until that imaging happens tomorrow,” manager Clayton McCullough said. The results will determine whether the Marlins need to make yet another rotation move heading into the weekend series.