Sox left-hander Martin Perez was fooling Twins hitters all afternoon. So when he stuck out first baseman Ty France in the sixth inning with an 85.7 mph cutter, he just screamed with a steely expression.
Perez was locked in all afternoon, hurling a gem in his season debut. Perez threw six no-hit innings with a career-high-tying nine strikeouts. He last tied his career high on Aug. 3, 2022, with Boston.
Sox’ no-hit bid ended in the seventh after shortstop Willie Castro’s line-drive single to right field with two outs. But it was still a remarkable outing by Perez in the Sox’ 9-0 win on Monday.
“The way I was competing with my pitches, I was moving the ball good and that is the key for me,” Perez said. “I don’t have the velocity anymore, but I know how to pitch, and I know how to move the ball.”
Perez incorporated his cutter, changeup and slider all afternoon. He got 11 called strikes on his cutter and seven whiffs on changeups.
The veteran left-hander was using those two pitches effectively all afternoon. Even when he walked and hit a Twins batter in the fourth inning, he got out of the jam with a cutter in the heart of the zone.
“He knows how to pitch,” manager Will Venable said. “We talked about it before, and I’ve seen it a lot. And to have him continue this nice run of starting pitching was great.”
Perez said the staff came to him and asked how he was feeling. But having already thrown 93 pitches, Perez said “there’s no way I can go three more innings with that kind of pitches.” Perez said he didn’t think about the no-hitter on the mound, saying he just wanted to compete. Competition seems to be the theme for the Sox in the early portion of the season.
The Sox’ starting staff has been impressive to start the season, throwing 23 scoreless innings in four starts. Wins haven’t followed because of a woeful offense outside of the eight runs scored on Opening Day.
But the Sox got after Twins starter Chris Paddack, forcing him out after 3 ⅓ inefficient innings. The Sox were patient, forcing long at-bats by fouling off pitches and displaying a good eye at the plate. The three multi-run homers gave the Sox the bases-clearing hits they were missing in their series against the Angels.
With the offense supplying Perez with nine runs, the Sox blew out the Twins. With the Sox leading 9-0 in the fourth inning, manager Rocco Baldelli pinch hit for stars Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa.
“We’re going to have to have games like that; we’re going to have to have the games where we have the situational hitting, and they may be low-scoring games,” Venable said. “But having multiple ways to score and win games is important, and for our offense to be able to hit some homers and score runs in bunches like that is huge.”
The Sox rotation has yet to allow an earned run through four games. The defense has held up well, executing routine double plays, and shortstop Jacob Amaya has a penchant for making impressive grabs, like his leaping catch in the first inning to rob Correa of a hit.
But the starting pitching has led the team so far, and Perez has played a critical role in that with his professionalism, confidence and savvy. Perez has thrown more career innings (1,581.2) than Sean Burke (25), Jonathan Cannon (129.1), Davis Martin (119.1) and Shane Smith (zero) combined. Perez has embraced being a leader for the rotation. He commended his younger teammates for their inquisitive nature.
I’ve been around for so long, and I just want to tell the guys how they need to prepare and how long the season is. I remember there were a lot of people who said we’re not a contending team but now we show them that we are better than last year and we are playing better baseball.