Perez tops Bench’s mark for HRs by catcher

Salvador Perez hit his 46th home run, breaking Johnny Bench’s record for homers by a catcher in a season, and the Kansas City Royals beat the host Cleveland Indians 7-2 Monday in the first game of a doubleheader.

Perez hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning, topping Bench’s total from 1970 for the most by a player who played at least 75% of his team’s games at catcher.

Starting again behind the plate — the durable All-Star has seen some time at designated hitter — Perez drove a 1-2 pitch from Triston McKenzie into the left-field bleachers, a drive that traveled 429 feet. Perez pointed to the sky after crossing home plate and was hugged by teammates as he entered the dugout.

Perez, who caught the first game of the doubleheader, was tied with Bench since Thursday.

Perez became the first catcher since Javy Lopez in 2003 with 40 homers in a season following his two-homer game Sept. 4 against the White Sox.

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 RBI.

Hunter Dozier and Andrew Benintendi also hit two-run homers for the Royals.

The Royals completed a sweep with a 4-2 win in the nightcap.

BATTING TITLE RACES HEAT UP

The bar for the batting title is unusually low this year — and that’s creating wild races for the honor in both leagues.

Going into Monday, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led the majors in hitting with a .321 average, and Trea Turner was atop the National League at .316. According to BaseballReference.com, the only time the leaders in both leagues were at .325 or lower was in 1960, when Dick Groat topped the NL at .325 and Pete Runnels hit .320 to win the AL title.

The lowest average to win the NL batting crown was .313 by Tony Gwynn in 1988. The lowest to top the AL was .301 by Carl Yastrzemski in the pitcher-dominated 1968 season.

These lower batting averages by the league leaders are consistent with the sense that the sport is dominated by homers and strikeouts now. Aside from the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, nobody has hit over .350 since Josh Hamilton in 2010.

With nobody close to a number like that this season, there could be several players in contention for the batting crown until the final day. Houston’s Michael Brantley (.315) and Yuli Gurriel (.314) aren’t far behind Toronto’s Guerrero in the AL. Right behind the Dodgers’ Turner in the NL are another former Washington National and a current one. Bryce Harper is hitting .313 and Juan Soto is at .315.

LATE SUNDAY

Mets 3, Phillies 2: Jeff McNeil hit a tiebreaking homer leading off the seventh inning, and host New York Mets dealt a blow to Philadelphia’s playoff hopes.

The Phillies, who were trying to complete a three-game sweep, blew a two-run lead and fell two games behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East and 3 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the race for the second NL wild card.

“Anytime you’re able to come in here and win two out of three, it’s big for us, especially in the spot that we’re in,” said Bryce Harper, who scored the Phillies’ first run and drove in their second before ending the game with a deep fly out to left.

The Mets snapped a five-game losing streak and remained 5 games behind the Braves — whom they visit in the final series of the season — and seven games behind the Cardinals.

ELSEWHERE

Indians: Anthony Gose, formerly a fast outfielder in the big leagues, was called up from the minors Monday by Cleveland, this time as a hard-throwing lefty reliever with 100-mph heat. The 31-year-old Gose last played in the majors in 2016 with Detroit.

Gose pitched 1 innings, allowing one run with one walk and one strikeout in the second game of a doubleheader Monday against Kansas City. Of his 39 pitches, seven zoomed into triple digits. His strikeout was Royals slugger Perez, who made history in the first game.

Yankees: Two-time All-Star pitcher Luis Severino has rejoined the team almost two years after he last played in the majors. The 27-year-old righthander had Tommy John surgery in February 2020 and minor setbacks during his minor league rehab.

Manager Aaron Boone says he’ll use Severino out of the bullpen. New York is chasing Toronto and Boston for a wild-card spot.