Boston manager Alex Cora removed Perez from Monday's game after five innings and 71 pitches for matchup reasons, Ian Browne of MLB.com reports.
Perez appeared to be cruising after giving up one run over five innings, but Cora opted to bring in Matt Andriese in the sixth. The manager explained that several right-handers were due up in the sixth, and Andriese was well rested to go multiple innings. Furthermore, when Cora was asked about Perez's ability to go deeper, he indicated that he rued a decision made during Perez's previous start. "We left him in against a righty and we got burned," Cora said, referencing the two-run single Perez allowed to Detroit's JaCoby Jones in the sixth inning of his previous start. "Today, we felt like five innings was perfect." Whether Cora will be hesitant to let lineups see Perez three times going forward is not clear, but the left-hander has thrown more than five innings just three times in seven outings.