Perez used his changeup more often in Thursday's 4-2 win over the Mets, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.
Aside from a minor blip in the third inning, Perez mastered the Mets, facing four or fewer batters in the four of the five innings he completed. "Great job from Martin to get us that far," said manager Ron Roenicke. "Really commanded his pitches from the first inning on. That's huge for us, to have him do that." After relying on his cutter during his first start, when the Orioles jumped on Perez for five runs in the first two innings, the left-hander threw 31 changeups (35.2 percent of his pitches) in Thursday's win, generating nine swings-and-misses on the pitch. "I had a good feeling today," Perez said. "As soon as I started throwing it and seeing those guys weren't making adjustments, I just said this is the pitch I have to stay on. I just trusted it."