CHICAGO - Martin Pérez’s path to 100 wins in the majors didn’t look like a straight line, and for a while, it didn’t look like it would keep going at all.
On Tuesday night at Wrigley Field, with Marc Anthony’s “Vivir Mi Vida” rolling through the park on Chicago Cubs Hispanic Heritage Night, the 35-year-old left-hander delivered another sturdy outing for the Braves and reached a milestone he once didn’t believe was realistic. Pérez worked six innings in Atlanta’s 6-3 win over Chicago, giving up three runs, two earned, on five hits to pick up the 100th victory of his career.
The moment landed on a night that already carried a different kind of energy.
The song’s refrain - “Voy a reír, voy a gozar, vivir mi vida” - means “I’m going to laugh, I’m going to enjoy myself, live my life.”
For Pérez, it fit.
The Venezuelan veteran is in his 15th big-league season, and not long ago he was wondering if he had reached the end. Health was the issue.
So was time. With a wife and four young children, the question was no longer just whether he wanted to keep pitching, but whether his body would let him.
A year ago, that uncertainty was hard to ignore. Pérez appeared in only 11 games for the Chicago White Sox and threw 56 innings after missing a significant stretch with a flexor-tendon injury.
This season has looked very different. Tuesday was his 25th start already, the fifth-most starts he has made in any season of his career.
That turnaround started when the Braves offered him a minor-league contract.
After talking it over with his wife, María, Pérez found himself pushed back toward the game by the same reality that made stepping away feel so heavy in the first place. “She just told me, ‘If you come out from baseball, you gotta come from the front door,'” Pérez said earlier this season.
“When I heard that from my wife, I went like, ‘She’s right. I’m going to try it.
If you feel good, I’m just going to keep doing it.’ And now I feel 100 percent, and I think I can pitch for five more years.”
The Braves have gotten the version of Pérez that was hard to picture when retirement was on the table. He entered Tuesday with a 3.08 ERA and 98 strikeouts, getting by without overpowering velocity and making his living by working the corners, changing speeds and refusing to let hitters get comfortable. His fastball sits in the low 90s, but the approach has held up.
And the climb has had its bumps. Pérez was designated for assignment early in the season, then quickly returned to the organization on another minor-league deal. He moved between the bullpen and the rotation before settling into Atlanta’s starting group.
That persistence finally added up to a round number.
“I never thought that I was going to have a chance to win many games in the big leagues,” Pérez said. “This is for my family, too. For the people in Venezuela, they’ve been supporting me all my career.”
His 100th win also made him the 10th Venezuelan-born pitcher to reach that mark.
Braves manager Walt Weiss pointed to the grind behind it.
“Nothing’s handed out in this league,” Weiss said. “Everything you get, you earn, and that’s a special accomplishment.
And he’s had to grind for it. You always do to accomplish anything in this league.”
Atlanta may need more than just Pérez’s usual starting work once October arrives. He already showed that last month, when Reynaldo López was scratched from his scheduled start and Pérez took the ball on short rest, carrying a no-hit bid into the seventh inning.
However the Braves use him in the postseason - as a starter, in a shorter outing or simply waiting for his name to be called - Pérez has shown he’s ready for the assignment. After spending so much of this season proving he still belonged, he reached a milestone that once felt far away and did it with a team that gave him another shot.
“It’s special because I was with this team, with really good teammates, and really good coaches,” Pérez said. “I’m really glad to be part of this team and win my 100th win in the big leagues with the Atlanta Braves.”
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