PEREZ HITS BENCH MARK!
Royal’s 45th HR ties Reds’ great for dingers by a catcher
Salvador Perez tied Johnny Bench’s record for homers in a season by a catcher with his 45th, but Chad Pinder’s two-run single spurred a third-inning rally and the Oakland Athletics held off the Kansas City Royals 7-2 Thursday.
Perez hit a two-run homer in the first inning, matching Bench’s total from 1970 for the most by a player who played at least 75% of his team’s games at catcher. Perez is tied with Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the major league lead in homers and also leads the bigs with 112 RBIs.
“We’re witnessing a special season,” manager Mike Matheny said. “We’re witnessing a special player. To be able to be put in the conversation with one most would say is the best ever is pretty rare.”
His talent is not lost on the opposition.
“Salvador, it seems like he’s hitting a home run a day against everybody,” Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. “You can’t miss against him right now.”
Oakland started the day 3.5 games behind Toronto, Boston and the Yankees for the two AL wild cards.
Pinder delivered a two-out hit during a four-run third inning in which Oakland had seven runners reach base — with just two hits. The A’s also scored three runs in the ninth on just one hit.
“We’ll draw some walks,” Melvin said. “Obviously there were some wild pitches that moved some runners up. We got big hits when we needed to. When you put a crooked number up, it has an emotional effect on the other side.”
The Royals had the tying runs on base with less than two outs in the sixth and eighth innings but couldn’t score.
Paul Blackburn (1-2) battled through five-plus innings for Oakland, yielding two runs on six hits.
OHTANI HAS SORE ARM
Two-way star Shohei Ohtani won’t pitch Friday for the Los Angeles Angels because of a sore right arm that could sideline him as a pitcher for the rest of the season.
“If there’s any kind of lingering soreness, you may not see him pitch,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said prior to Thursday’s game against the Chicago White Sox.
Ohtani (9-2, 3.36 ERA) felt soreness while playing catch Wednesday. Maddon said he raised the possibility of the likely AL MVP being shut down on the mound for the rest of the season during a meeting.
Maddon said there are currently no plans for Ohtani to be examined by a doctor, nor has it been determined when he would try to resume playing catch.
Ohtani, 27, hasn’t pitched since Sept. 10, when he was tagged for six runs on nine hits in 3 ⅓ innings in a loss at Houston.
Maddon said Ohtani would like to continue pitching in an attempt to get his 10th victory.
“(Ten wins) always looks better than nine,” Maddon said. “But you can’t let that be the driving factor.” The arm discomfort won’t prevent Ohtani from continuing to serve as a designated hitter. Ohtani entered Thursday’s game against the White Sox ranked second in the major leagues with 44 home runs and 74 extra-base hits and fourth with a .599 slugging percentage.
TROUT LIKELY DONE
Mike Trout is likely done for the year. Same for Jo Adell, another talented outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels.
Maddon said he would be very surprised if Trout played again this season. The three-time AL MVP injured his right calf running the bases May 17 and had a setback last month, but he has left open the possibility of returning this year.
Adell was placed on the 10-day injured list after he got hurt when he crashed into the wall in left while trying to catch Garrett Stubbs’ RBI double in the ninth inning of the Angels’ 4-2 win at Houston on Saturday night. He hit the back of his head on the wall on the play, but the team said he had a left abdominal strain.
TATIS HITS 39TH
Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his NL-leading 39th home run and the San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants 7-4.
The Padres moved within half a game of the idle Cardinals for the second NL wild card at 76-70. San Diego starts a three-game series in St. Louis on Friday.
Tatis also singled and walked twice a day after matching a career best with four hits. Tommy Pham and Manny Machado each drove in two runs, and Adam Frazier and Austin Nola had three hits apiece.
Evan Longoria homered for the NL West-leading Giants, whose lead over the Dodgers dropped to a game. Los Angeles was off Thursday.
Nabil Crismatt (3-1) pitched four scoreless innings in relief to earn the win in a bullpen game for the Padres.
Giants starter Kevin Gausman (14-6) lost for the first time since July 30, allowing four earned runs on eight hits in five innings.
LLOYD SCORES 5
Carli Lloyd scored a career-high five goals in the U.S. national team’s 9-0 rout of Paraguay. The 39-year-old forward has just three more games before she walks away from the game.
Lloyd scored a pair of goals in the opening five minutes, and added her third and fourth before halftime as the United States built a 6-0 lead. She added her final goal in the 61st.
Lloyd has 133 international goals in 313 appearances with the national team. She moved in front of Kristine Lilly for third on the career list.
“She’s an absolute legend,” U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski said.
Lloyd’s scoring outburst was reminiscent of the 2015 World Cup final, when she scored three goals in the first 16 minutes against Japan. She announced she plans to retire from soccer after the team’s four post-Olympic games.
“That was fun,” she said about the game. “I don’t know, I’m just trying to savor it because I want time to go a little bit slower, because one game is down and I have three left.”
It was Lloyd’s first career fivegoal game. She has nine career hat tricks, one fewer than Mia Hamm.
The five goals matched the U.S. record for a single game, a milestone most recently reached by Alex Morgan against Thailand during the 2019 World Cup. No player has had six.
RAHM FIRED UP
Jon Rahm is motivated, even if he’s not feeling well.
The top-ranked Spanish star had two birdies and two bogeys Thursday in an even-par 72 in the first round of the Fortinet Championship, leaving him well back of the leaders at Silverado Resort and Spa.
“I was having a hard time focusing given the fact that I haven’t had a solid meal since Tuesday morning,” Rahm said. “My best guess is just a little run down from the season. Maybe having a little bit too much good rich food Monday and Tuesday just did it for my stomach.”
Rahm began feeling ill earlier this week and pulled out of the pro-am Wednesday to rest. He said he felt worse than when he tested positive for COVID-19 in June and was forced to withdraw from the Memorial after leading by six strokes through three rounds.
After the disappointment at Memorial, he won the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in June for his first major championship. He won the money title, the Vardon Trophy for the lowest scoring average and had 15 top-10 finishes.
Rahm said he’s also motivated by being passed over in the player of the year honors that went to Patrick Cantlay. Cantlay who won the FedEx Cup after edging Rahm by one stroke at the Tour Championship.
“I played amazing golf,” Rahm said. “What could have been if certain unfortunate situations didn’t happen, right? I could have had maybe one more win and the chance to compete for a medal. To think it could have been better does nothing but motivate me. I know I can get better.”