On June 2, 2018, Pérez signed a major-league deal with the Cleveland Indians. He contributed to a notable oddity on June 29, when he recorded a relief appearance with a walk and no pitches. This is because under recent MLB rules changes, it was no longer necessary to actually pitch four balls in order to grant an intentional walk. After Perez had been brought into the game by manager Terry Francona to pitch to left-handed batter Dustin Fowler, Oakland Athletics' manager Bob Melvin sent right-handed batter Mark Canha to pinch hit. Francona then ordered an intentional base on balls, and Canha was awarded first base with no pitches being thrown. Melvin then had Chad Pinder (right) pinch-hit for Matt Joyce (left), so Francona countered by replacing Pérez with right-handed reliever Zach McAllister, thus making Pérez the first MLB pitcher to officially pitch in a game without actually throwing any pitches.