Perez passes Bench; Royals sweep Indians
CLEVELAND — Salvador Perez hit his 46th home run, breaking Johnny Bench’s record for most by a catcher in a season, to highlight the opener, then the Kansas City Royals completed a doubleheader sweep by beating the Cleveland Indians 4-2 Monday night.
Perez hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning of a 7-2 win, topping Bench’s total from 1970 for the
MONDAY’S GAMES
highest total by a player who spent at least 75 percent of his team’s games at catcher.
Perez also moved into a tie for the major league lead in homers with Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero
Jr. Perez leads the majors with 115 RBIS.
“I had never hit 30 in my career,” he said. “So I was looking for 30 homers and 100 RBIS. This is a dream come true.”
Being in the same company with Bench is something else special for the 31-year-old Perez who has been a mainstay for the Royals since reaching the majors in 2011 .
“When you see a Hall of Fame catcher, you try to be just like him,” Perez said. “I’m going to try my best to be one of those guys.”
In the second game, Perez hit an early double before striking out against Anthony Gose, a former outfielder who returned to the majors after a five-year absence as a hard-throwing reliever.
Gose pitched 1⅔ innings, allowing one run and one hit with one walk and one strikeout. Of his 39 pitches, seven reached 100 mph.
Gose, 31, last played in the majors in 2016 with Detroit. He spent parts of five years with the Tigers and Toronto before becoming a a pitcher.
■ Mariners 4, Athletics 2: At Oakland, Calif., Kyle Seager had a two-run double in the third inning among his three hits and three RBIS. Spring Valley High product Tyler Anderson (2-1) struck out seven and walked one over seven innings, allowing one run on four hits to win for the first time in six starts since Aug. 17 at Texas.
■ Yankees 4, Rangers 3: At New York, Gary Sánchez hit a home run in the second inning. Aroldis Chapman got three straight outs for his 28th save in 32 chances.
■ Blue Jays 6, Rays 4: At St. Petersburg, Fla., Shane Baz (1-0) struck out five and walked none in five innings to win his major league debut. Toronto got homers from Teoscar Hernández, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Marcus Semien.
■ Phillies 2, Orioles 0: At Philadelphia, John Means (6-7) struck out six and allowed four hits in 6⅔ scoreless innings.
■ Cardinals 5, Brewers 2: At Milwaukee,
Nolan Arenado hit a two-run homer to back Jon Lester (7-6), who is the third active pitcher with 200 wins, joining Houston teammates Justin Verlander (226) and Zack Greinke (219). He’s the 30th left-hander in major-league history to reach the mark.
■ Tigers 4, White Sox 3: At Detroit, Harold Castro’s eighth-inning single broke a 3-all tie for Detroit.
■ Marlins 8, Nationals 7: At Miami, Jazz Chisholm Jr. homered twice before scoring from third on a wild pitch in the 10th inning.
■ Reds 9, Pirates 5: At Cincinnati, Joey Votto tied the game with his second homer and Eugenio Suarez followed with a go-ahead shot. Nick Castellanos drove in three runs with three hits and Kyle Farmer also went deep for Cincinnati.
■ Astros 10, Angels 0: At Anaheim, Calif., Jose Siri hit a lead off homer to back Framber Valdez (11-5), who struck out six in seven scoreless innings.