MIA 2, LAA 0: 3 Big W's in the Big A

Effectively wild Pérez, bullpen, and Fortes do just enough to secure series sweep in Anaheim.

As the Miami Marlins entered Sunday's conclusion of their 10-game west coast road trip, they came into the day seeking their first ever series sweep of the junior Los Angeles franchise, the Angels.

Working around 4 walks, Eury Pérez, making just his 4th big league start, would set the tone for Miami, authoring 5 scoreless innings that included strikeouts of both Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. Miami's bullpen would follow suit, authoring 4 scoreless of their own to secure a 2-0 win, concluding the road trip at 5-5.

"I grew up watching these amazing talents, Trout and Ohtani...but I just had to go out, compete, and enjoy the moment," said Pérez.

"He had one big inning. I would've loved to see him go 6, but he did enough today," said manager Skip Schumaker.

Miami pitching neutralized Trout and Ohtani to the tune of 5-for-24 with 7 strikeouts in the 3-game sweep.

Beyond catching what was the team's third shutout of the season, Nick Fortes opened the scoring in the top of 3rd when he hit his third home run of the season off human homer repellant, Patrick Sandoval. In 55 1/3 innings this season, Sandoval has allowed all of 4 long balls (0.65 HR/9). The Los Angeles left-hander held his own Sunday, limiting Miami to 2 runs, scattering 8 hits and 2 walks.

"3-2, he (Sandoval) just hung a changeup, and I took advantage of it," noted Fortes to Bally's Jessica Blaylock.

Encouraging signs for the ever-wandering Jean Segura came in the form of an RBI single to plate Miami's second run in the 6th.

"He's fighting...the care factor shows because he really cares," said Schumaker.

The Halos would threaten in the 9th, though. With JT Chargois looking for his first career save, a Chad Wallach single to begin the inning would be erased on a double play off the bat of Taylor Ward. However, rookie shortstop Zach Neto would work a 3-2 walk to bring up Trout doppelgänger, Hunter Renfroe.

Renfroe would proceed to double to the left-center gap, setting up second and third for the aforementioned Trout.

Working the count 2-2, Chargois would deliver a perfectly placed 96 mph sinker, running in on the hands of a swinging Trout, who hit it all of 58.5 mph to Luis Arraez for the game's final out.

Of Note

• At just 20 years and 43 days, Eury Peréz becomes the youngest pitcher in Marlins franchise history to throw at least 5 scoreless innings in a single outing. José Fernández had previously been the record-holder when authoring 6 scoreless frames against the Phillies on 4/13/13 at 20 years, 256 days.
• Though going homerless to snap a stretch of 5 consecutive games with a long ball, Jorge Soler exited play Sunday 67 total bases in the month of May. The franchise record for said month is 83, set by Giancarlo Stanton back in 2017.
• Fortes became just the 8th catcher in franchise history to collect at least 6 total bases while catching a shutout in the same game.

Looking Ahead

The Marlins will partake in the Memorial Day festivities as they'll have their first off day since May 15.

At 28-26 and holding a 1-game lead for 2nd place in the NL East, the team will resume play Tuesday when they return home to begin a three-game series against the San Diego Padres. Sandy Alcantara (2-5, 4.86 ERA) will make his 11th start of the season while the Friars will fare with Ryan Weathers (1-3, 3.94 ERA). First pitch is slated for 6:40 EST from loanDepot Park.