Rangers Lose To Royals
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The sold out Kauffman Stadium crowd began to chant “Salvy, Salvy, Salvy” as catcher Salvador Perez trotted around the bases.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Perez said.
Perez homered in the eighth to break a tie as the Kansas City Royals beat the Texas Rangers 4-3 Sunday to avoid being swept.
“It was huge,” Royals manager Ned Yost said of the victory. “We’ve been struggling. We haven’t given much for the fans to cheer about in this homestand.”
Perez homered off rookie Keone Kela (4-2) to give the fans plenty to cheer about before starting an eight-game road trip.
“It is pretty cut and dried simple,” Kela said. “I didn’t execute my pitch and he executed.”
Wade Davis (3-1), the third Kansas City pitcher, claimed the victory, while Greg Holland tossed a perfect ninth for his ninth save.
“We kind of went on a little lull the last week and a half,” Holland said. “That’s going to happen. The good teams know how to come out of it.”
The Royals had dropped nine of 11 before the victory.
The Rangers, who could muster only one hit off Royals right-hander Jeremy Guthrie for the
first six innings, scored three runs in the seventh to tie the score.
“I thought we mixed up the curveball with the changeup,” Guthrie said. “I thought that mix was really important for us today to keep them off balance a little bit more. It’s a tough lineup all the way down, a lot of lefties that can do some damage. You do have to mix up against them, like you do any club.”
After Guthrie gave up one-out singles to first baseman Mitch Moreland and third baseman Joey Gallo, he was pulled. Right-hander Kelvin Herrera replaced him and promptly permitted singles to shortstop Elvis Andrus, which loaded the bases, and center fielder Leonys Martin, which drive in a pair of runs.
“I was just aggressive,” Andrus said. “You cannot stay away from his fastball. He throws 100. He was adjusting my swing and my eyes with a changeup. He threw a couple of good ones that I fouled off and as soon as he throws me a fastball I just put a good swing on it.”
Catcher Robinson Chirinos ground out to second baseman Omar Infante scored Andrus to deadlock the score at 3.
The Royals utilized sacrifice flies in the first two innings to grab a 2-0 lead.
The Rangers are 26-6 when they score first and had scored in the first inning Friday and Saturday. But this time the Royals got the jump.
Shortstop Alcides Escobar and third baseman Mike Moustakas began the first inning with singles off Rangers right-hander Colby Lewis. First baseman Eric Hosmer flied out to center, deep enough to get Escobar home from third.
Infante reached on an infield single with one out in the second. Center fielder Jarrod Dyson’s double — his seventh hit in eight at-bats — moved Infante to third. Escobar’s sacrifice fly to left fielder Delino DeShields scored Infante.
Guthrie walked two in the first two innings, but did not surrender a hit until first baseman Mitch Moreland doubled to left in the fourth. That was the only hit Guthrie would allow until the seventh.
The Royals upped their advantage to 3-0 in the fifth when designated hitter Kendrys Morales’ two-out double scored Escobar, who started the inning with an infield single.
Right fielder Alex Rios led off the Royals fourth with a double to left, but went no farther as Lewis retired the next three.
