Martín Pérez Adds to Odds-Defying Season with Braves with 100th Win

Martín Pérez notched a career milestone in the effort to push the Atlanta Braves closer to a playoff berth and a potential division title. He ground out his 100th career win, going six innings and allowing three runs, two earned, while striking out two.

"I can't even wrap my head around 100," Drake Baldwin, who caught Pérez's start, said after the game. "A lot of wins in the big leagues, so it's been pretty special catching him."

It's a feat that for him took some poise and determination to get to.

At one point, it seemed like maybe this feat wouldn't be attainable. He had been dealing with injuries the last couple of years. He debated even pitching in 2025, but he chose to give himself that chance when an offer from the Braves came his way.

Even after getting on a roster, he had to go through waivers and go back and fourth between the rotation and the bullpen. It's a longer path to the nine wins he needed at the start of the season. Sure enough, he passed every test and rose up to become what should be a playoff starter for the Braves.

"I think it was special because it was with this team, with my teammates; really good teammates, really good staff, good coaches, and I'm really glad to be on this team and win my 100th win in the big leagues," Pérez said to the media after the game.

He added that this win was for his family and for everyone in his home country of Venezuela for supporting him. The milestone also came on the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month, giving greater significance to the night.

"It means a lot. I mean, being around a long time and have this be blessed to be a 100-win guy in the big leagues, especially where I come from," he said. "It's hard. I never think that I'm going to have a chance to win many games in the big leagues and have a chance to be in the league, and it means a lot to me."

He's the 10th Venezuelan pitcher to win 100 games. He joins a group that includes former multi-time All-Stars and Cy Young Award winners Felix Hernández and Johan Santana, three-time All-Star Carlos Zambrano, 2013 AL ERA leader Anibal Sánchez, and his former Braves teammate and long-time big-leaguer Carlos Carrasco.

An All-Star and World Series winner himself, Pérez fits right in with the elite company.

Beating the odds en route to a special night makes for a feel-good story. Ahead, he has a chance to make another statement.

With the doubts that have come his way, along with much of the Braves, rotation, he can soon go out there and make an impact in October. As that time approaches, he has yet to win a postseason game in his career.

He's made eight postseason appearance but only one of them has been a start. Given how his season has unfolded, it would be fitting that he gets his next awaited playoff start, which could then get him that first playoff win.

Being able to enjoy what comes with the regular season and having something else to still push for. That's something not many get to experience. He wasn't supposed to either, but sure enough, here he is.

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