MIAMI -- Celebrating one’s first Major League victory is a rite of passage.

If Marlins top prospect Eury Pérez needed any reminding, ace Sandy Alcantara kept telling his mentee during Thursday afternoon’s eighth inning to be prepared. Following Miami’s 5-3 victory over Washington at loanDepot park, Pérez’s teammates rolled him around in a cart and showered him with ketchup and other condiments.

“I told them I have new shoes, so please be careful with my shoes,” Pérez said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr.

Pérez’s second start was even better than his debut, as the 20-year-old right-hander allowed one run on three hits with one walk and six strikeouts over five innings.

As manager Skip Schumaker and general manager Kim Ng noted when it was announced Pérez would be called up, the organization will monitor his pitch counts and innings. Schumaker elaborated after his club’s fourth consecutive win that Pérez doesn’t know ahead of time the number of pitches he will be allotted. Thursday’s series finale was no exception, as he was pulled after 78 pitches (48 strikes).

MLB Pipeline’s No. 7 overall prospect has never thrown more than 90 pitches or gone deeper than six innings in a start. Six days ago, Pérez was chased after 88 pitches and 4 2/3 frames.

According to Schumaker, several factors went into Thursday’s decision. He didn’t like the idea of taking Pérez out after one batter in case of a long at-bat to open the sixth. Plus, reliever Matt Barnes hadn’t pitched in four days, so when he entered, Schumaker wanted it to be a clean inning since the club was going to ask him to get four-plus outs.

“I wanted to continue,” Pérez said via Dorante. “I was making eye contact with [pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr.] a lot of times, and he was smiling, and he told me, ‘For the next one, we'll let you go a little deeper.’”

Here is an inning-by-inning breakdown of Pérez’s second MLB start:

First inning: 10 pitches
Pérez did the improbable by retiring Jeimer Candelario on the sixth pitch of the at-bat for a perfect first. Candelario, who reached in all but three of 12 plate appearances in his previous three games, swung at a slider in the dirt. Four of Pérez’s six strikeouts were on that secondary pitch.

Second inning: 26 pitches
Pérez’s command was a bit off, as he fell behind three of the five batters he faced. Keibert Ruiz walked with one out, and though Dominic Smith was ahead in the count, he grounded into a forceout. Jake Alu followed with a broken-bat single to left to put runners on first and second, but Pérez struck out CJ Abrams with a slider on the eighth pitch of the at-bat to end the threat. 

“The plan was definitely to see pitches, but get the ball in the zone,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said.

Added Schumaker: “Of course, there's learning lessons, and he'll go back and he had one long inning. He'll probably look at it and probably get into the sixth if he doesn't have that long of an inning, but that'd be looking for something to criticize. I thought he did a great job.”

Third inning: 14 pitches
Not only did Pérez record his second perfect frame, but his two Ks came on backdoor sliders that caught the batters looking.

Fourth inning: 21 pitches
Candelario led off with a homer to right-center, connecting on a 94.9 mph four-seamer. Across 9 2/3 frames, Pérez has surrendered three runs -- all on solo shots against the fastball.

“It's the Major Leagues,” Schumaker said. “Guys are going to hit, and you don't want to scare away from your fastball. He throws 100 [mph], so the last thing I'm going to say is ‘don't throw your fastball.’

“You throw strikes, we have a good chance to win. I don't want him or any of our guys to be scared to throw it inside the strike zone. We always have a good chance. Solo home runs typically don't beat you, anyways, so totally OK with the solo home run.”

Fifth inning: 7 pitches
Pérez finished strong with his most effective 1-2-3 frame, capped by a strikeout of Luis García.

“We preached, especially with a guy like that who handles fastballs so well, to be able to throw a fastball to that guy, but in the right spot to get him out,” said catcher Nick Fortes, who had previously never caught Pérez in game action. “He was able to elevate it way up above the zone, so that was a good way to finish it off.”