Martín Pérez's last performance in the World Baseball Classic was a nightmare, hard to forget. But the Venezuelan rediscovered his dominance this Tuesday in his last performance of the spring and, somehow, received a boost to continue what he started last year.
The Venezuelan led the Texas Rangers 5-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals. He pitched 5.0 one-run innings, walked one and struck out five.
49 of his 70 pitches were in the strike zone, and though he couldn't clinch the win, his ERA improved to 2.45.
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One innings after Martín Pérez left the mound, the Rangers reacted and turned the score around with five runs between the sixth and eighth innings, highlighting a home steal by Ezequiel Durán.
The victory ultimately went to Jon Gray, who completed a 4.0-inning relief of two runs, one walk and seven strikeouts. All of that to leave his ERA at 1.02.
Brooks Kriste, meanwhile, took the loss by allowing three runs in 1.0 episode.