Gabe Perez wanted to stay in the game, of course. But the RailCats right-hander understood the decision was the manager’s.
Greg Tagert wanted Perez to stay in the game. But the manager understood the bigger picture.
The RailCats’ plan Tuesday at the Steel Yard against Lincoln was for Perez to get through seven innings, then go to Scott Plaza for the eighth and Myles Smith for the ninth.
When Perez, working on three days’ rest for the first time since entering the four-man rotation more than a month ago, also pitched the eighth — a perfect inning, to boot — they viewed it as a bonus.
And as the time to make the call to the bullpen for Smith after Perez produced eight scoreless innings. In hindsight, Tagert was kicking himself.
“In most cases, I’m going to let that pitcher go for that shutout — I’ve done it before, I’ll do it almost every time,” Tagert said. “But the way Gabe finished that eighth inning, that was what we needed.
“I know fans booed me out of the park after I made the change. I even had the umpires mad at me when I took out Gabe.”
Lincoln tied the score with a run in the ninth before the RailCats won the game 2-1 on Tillman Pugh’s walk-off homer in the 12th.
It was a case of “all’s well that ends well” for the RailCats, with Perez still turning in his best outing of an uneven season.
The RailCats acquired Perez in January from Kansas City with the intention of using him out of the bullpen, likely as their closer. The 27-year-old from the Dominican Republic was open to the idea even though he had started 112 of 119 games in a career that included four seasons in the Angels organization, one in the Diamondbacks organization and four with independent teams.
“I was mentally prepared for it, adjusting to the bullpen,” Perez said with shortstop Andy DeJesus serving as a translator. “I’ve never been in the bullpen. But whenever you get a chance, you have to do the best you can.”
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The early results were encouraging. Perez had five straight scoreless appearances — including his first save at any level on May 27 at St. Paul, a milestone he cherished — and eight of nine. But he never quite acclimated to the preparation and warmup routine of a relief role.
On July 1, Perez shifted to the rotation, where he’s admittedly more comfortable.
He’s gone 3-1 with a 3.14 ERA in eight starts. He’s 4-1 with a 3.34 ERA and five saves in 22 games overall, with 53 strikeouts and 31 walks in 59 1/3 innings.
In his season-high eight innings Tuesday against Lincoln, Perez allowed three hits, retired 15 straight batters from the second to the seventh, and didn’t allow a runner to reach second base. He also had a season-best nine strikeouts and didn’t issue a walk for the first time in any start.
“I was focusing on throwing the first pitch for a strike,” Perez said. “I wanted to get ahead of every hitter I faced. I wanted to stay in the strike zone, and compete every pitch and every inning.”
After Perez matched a season high with five walks in his previous start Friday against Wichita, the RailCats hope he has turned a corner.
“He has lived on the edge since he entered that rotation and he lived on the edge out of that bullpen, which is the reason we couldn’t use him late,” Tagert said. “But he was very good (Tuesday). He showed the type of ability he has.”