Miami Marlins right fielder Esteury Ruiz (3) reacts to hitting a home run during the third inning of a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, at loanDepot Park in Miami, Fla.
Alie Skowronski
askowronski@miamiherald.com
Eury Perez did the work on the mound.
Esteury Ruiz backed him up with his bat and legs.
Together, the duo of Perez and Ruiz was more than enough to lead the Miami Marlins to a 2-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates and ace Paul Skenes on Tuesday to begin a three-game series at loanDepot park. It was the Marlins’ 12th shutout win of the season, tied with the New York Yankees for third-most in MLB behind only the Philadelphia Phillies (15) and Detroit Tigers (13).
The Marlins improved to 61-59 as they attempt to stay in the race for a playoff spot. Pittsburgh falls to 58-63.
Miami Marlins pitcher Eury Pérez (39) reacts to striking someone out during the second inning of a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, at loanDepot Park in Miami, Fla. Alie Skowronski askowronski@miamiherald.com
Perez tossed seven shutout innings, marking the fourth time this season he has made it through seven frames. The 6-8 righty held the Pirates to three hits and two walks while striking out seven. He did not allow a runner to get past first base.
“He cruised right along in this one,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said.
Since returning from the injured list on June 24, Perez has posted a 2.00 ERA (12 earned runs over 54 innings) with 56 strikeouts across nine starts. And this comes as Perez enters uncharted territory. Even after missing a month with a leg injury, Perez has already eclipsed his single-season career-highs for starts (21) and innings pitched (116 2/3).
“It’s been a process of a lot of work that we’ve been doing,” Perez said. “Working on that attack, and it’s just about just continuing to to doing the little things. … [I’m] trying to go out there and have a lot of confidence in every single pitch that I throw, and just do a good job. Just go out there with a big smile on my face.”
Michael Petersen worked around a single to toss a scoreless eighth before Pete Fairbanks then threw a shutout ninth to seal the win and pick up his 18th save of the season.
Ruiz, meanwhile, hit a solo home run off Skenes, who won the National League Cy Young Award last season and was a preseason favorite to win the award again this season but hasn’t lived up to those expectations, and scored a second run while utilizing his speed on the basepaths.
The home run — a no-doubter to left field on an elevated 95.5 mph Skenes fastball in the third inning — was Ruiz’s sixth of the season, a new career-high. It was also the first Skenes has given up in his MLB career against a hitter in the No. 9 spot of the lineup. Ruiz then doubled Miami’s lead in the fifth after he was hit by a pitch, stole second (his 28th stolen base of the season) and scored on an Xavier Edwards infield single coupled with a Jacob Gonzalez throwing error.
On the season, Ruiz is hitting .266 with a .887 on-base-plus slugging mark across 157 plate appearances. Half of his 34 hits have gone for extra bases: six home runs, 10 doubles and one triple.
“He’s been a real spark for us in a lot of ways,” McCullough said. “He jumped on a first pitch for a homer, and then you know gets hit by the pitch, and I don’t know if there’s anybody better to delay steal than him. The number of times he’s done it this year — it’s not a secret anymore; I’m sure people talk about it, but still how well he can execute that to get on there and create a run for us in a game that you figure was going to be low scoring and was going to be tight. I think those are just little things that he’s done for our offense all season long.”
Skenes was finished after that inning despite only throwing 65 pitches. It marked the seventh time in his past nine starts he failed to get through at least six innings.
This story was originally published August 11, 2026 at 8:58 PM.
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Miami Herald
Jordan McPherson covers the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Panthers for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and covered the Gators athletic program for five years before joining the Herald staff in December 2017.