The Cleveland Guardians were in trouble. They gave up four runs in the top of the first inning to the Miami Marlins, who had towering ace Eury Perez on the mound.
A Steven Kwan home run got one back, but then it was into the fourth with the game still at 4-1.
The Guardians got two runners on with two outs, but Perez had Gabriel Arias to two strikes.
Arias proceeded to put together the best at bat of his career.
He took two breaking balls to fall behind 1-2, then took another for a ball, 2-2.
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Arias fouled off four pitches in a row: a sweeper, a slider and two fastballs, at 98 and 99 MPH.
On the ninth pitch of the at bat, Perez left a curveball up a bit. Arias didn’t miss.
He crushed it long gone to left field for a three-run, game-tying home run.
GABRIEL ARIAS OH MY GOD pic.twitter.com/dAb8WdBWTp
— Fuzzy (@fuzzyfromyt) August 14, 2025
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It was incredible to watch.
Perez is overpowering. His breaking stuff is nasty. He was getting swing-and-miss all night out of the Guardians.
But somehow, Arias stayed alive. He fought. He battled. He persisted.
And in the end, Arias won the battle. He persevered. He delivered.
It might not be an at bat that’s remembered when the season is over, especially if the Guardians don’t go on to win the game.
But it’s one that showed how special Arias can be, and how cool it can be when a hitter outlasts a pitcher in an epic battle. It doesn’t get much better than that.
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