The Kansas City Royals returned home to Kauffman Stadium to start a 10-game homestand on Monday. This week, they faced the Los Angeles Angels in a three-game series and the Toronto Blue Jays in a four-game set.
The Royals finished the week with a 5-2 record and moved into first place in the American League Central Division. The star of the week was 2015 World Series MVP Salvador Perez.
Perez the Star of the Show
Salvy was on fire at the plate this past week, hitting .393 with 11 hits (two doubles, three home runs) and seven runs batted in.
During his dominant week, the backstop made Royals history and reached a career milestone. Against the Angels on Monday, Perez recorded career hit No. 1,000 in a 4-for-4 performance at the plate.
3 for 3 on the night, 1K for the career! Congratulations, Salvy!#TogetherRoyal pic.twitter.com/pkGEJXszMz
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) April 13, 2021
In the second game of the doubleheader on Saturday against the Blue Jays, Salvy crushed the longest home run of his career. A 459-foot walk-off moonshot into the left-center field fountains.
In the conclusion of the Toronto series, Perez hit the go-ahead two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning, fueling the Royals to a 2-0 victory. With his dinger on Sunday, Salvy became the first Royal to hit go-ahead homers in back-to-back games in the seventh inning or later.
Monday: Angels 10, Royals 3
In the series opener against the Angels, Brady Singer got the start for Kansas City. Over five innings, he allowed four runs (one earned) on seven hits, and struck out six batters.
Los Angeles got out to an early lead in the second inning. On a fly ball from Jose Rojas, errors from Michael A. Taylor and Singer led to Jared Walsh and Justin Upton crossing the plate. Shohei Ohtani drove in the next two runs for the Angels off of a fielder’s choice and an error from Nicky Lopez. Going into the bottom of the sixth, LA led 4-0.
The Royals got on the scoreboard in the sixth with an RBI-single from Perez and a two-run single from Jorge Soler. The deficit was cut to 4-3.
However, the Angels offense took over in the late innings, scoring three runs each in the seventh and ninth innings. Ohtani drove in two with a double and scored on a wild pitch in the seventh. In the ninth, Ohtani doubled in one more run before a two-run home run from Mike Trout capped off the Angels’ dominating victory.
Tuesday: Royals 3, Angels 2
On Tuesday, the Royals looked to rebound following a lopsided defeat on Monday. Danny Duffy hit the mound for Kansas City after a dominant start against Cleveland.
Duffy threw six innings, allowing one run on eight hits while fanning six Los Angeles hitters. To start the season, he went 10 2/3 innings scoreless before an Ohtani home run in the top of the fifth.
Another strong start from Danny. 💪#TogetherRoyal pic.twitter.com/n6ybzducD1
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) April 14, 2021
For the Royals, it was Carlos Santana fueling the offense early, driving in two runs with a sacrifice fly and a groundout. After the third inning, the Royals led 2-0.
With Ohtani hitting the homer in the top half of the fifth, Kansas City looked to respond. It was Salvy who stepped up with an RBI-single to regain a two-run advantage.
The Angels cut the deficit back to one run with a sac fly from Kurt Suzuki in the eighth and made it interesting in the ninth. However, with the bases loaded and two outs, Perez picked off David Fletcher at third base to end the game and secure the victory.
Salvy said "Game over!"#TogetherRoyal pic.twitter.com/PMecgEJDLa
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) April 14, 2021
Wednesday: Royals 6, Angels 1
In the rubber match for the series, Kansas City had Brad Keller take the bump with a series win on the line. After a. rough start to begin the season, Keller shut down the Angels’ offense. He went five and 2/3 innings, allowing one run on four hits, and striking out five batters.
The Royals offense got an early lead with an RBI-single from the red hot Perez and a sac fly from Cam Gallagher. KC carried a 2-0 lead into the fifth inning.
Keller surrendered his lone run in the fifth on an RBI-double from Jared Walsh. However, the Royals responded, and guess who? You got it; Salvy. An RBI-double from the catcher drove in Whit Merrifield. In the next at-bat, Carlos Santana brought home Perez on a two-run home run to left-center field. After the home half of the seventh, the Royals lead was 5-1.
In the eighth, Merrifield finished the scoring with a sac fly, driving in Hunter Dozier. KC secured the series win with a 6-1 win on Wednesday.
Thursday: Royals 7, Blue Jays 5
After clinching a series win on Wednesday, the Blue Jays entered Kauffman Stadium for a four-game set. In game one, the Royals had Jakob Junis take the mound. Over five innings, Junis surrendered two runs on five hits and set down six Toronto hitters.
The Royals’ offense exploded early. Andrew Benintendi started the scoring with an RBI-double in the bottom of the first. In the third, Nicky Lopez drove in a run with an RBI-triple and scored on an error by Blue Jays third baseman Cavan Biggio.
Kansas City added four more runs in the home half of the fourth. Hunter Dozier started the scoring with an RBI-double. Hanser Alberto followed with an RBI-double of his own with Dozier crossing the plate. Alberto scored on a second fielding error by Biggio. After four innings, the Royals led 7-0.
The Blue Jays did make it a game, scoring four runs of their own in the sixth inning. Joe Panik brought in two runners with a double and Rowdy Tellez drove him in with a single. Josh Palacios hit a sac fly to cut the lead to 7-4, but Toronto wasn’t finished as Valdimir Guerrero Jr. made it a two-run game with a crushing homer in the seventh.
In the ninth, the Blue Jays had two runners on and one out. Royals pitcher Scott Barlow got Bo Bichette to pop out and struck out Guerrero to close out the game with a KC win. Junis got his first win since September 4, 2019.
Saturday Game One: Blue Jays 5, Royals 1
With inclement weather postponing Friday’s matchup, a Saturday doubleheader was on the slate. In game one, Mike Minor got the start. Minor threw 5 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits.
In the first inning, the southpaw surrendered a two-run double to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. followed by home runs from Jonathan Davis in the fifth and Guerrero in the sixth.
The Kansas City offense struggled, not recording a hit until the sixth inning. In that inning, Benintendi got the Royals on the board with an RBI-double. It would be the lone run for them in the game.
Marcus Semien capped off the Blue Jays win with a sac fly, driving in the fifth and final run.
Saturday Game Two: Royals 3, Blue Jays 2
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Royals tapped Ervin Santana for the start. In his first game since April 24, 2019, Santana went three innings and allowed one run on two hits.
Toronto got out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning with an RBI-double from Alejandro Kirk. Kansas City responded in the third.
Benintendi drove in the tying run on a fielder’s choice and Santana drove in Benintendi with an RBI-double, giving KC a 2-1 lead. A Gurriel sac fly tied the game in the fourth.
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, a monster 459-foot “Salvy Splash” gave the Royals a walk-off victory to clinch at least a split of the series.
HEROES ARE BORN IN THE 7TH INNING!#TogetherRoyal pic.twitter.com/pbnOhyCAnw
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) April 18, 2021
Sunday: Royals 2, Blue Jays 0
With a series win on the line for Kansas City, Singer took the mound and he turned in his best start of the season. The 24-year-old tossed six scoreless innings, surrendering just two hits and three walks while fanning six hitters.
The Royals offense started the game with back-to-back innings with the bases loaded and did not score any runs. In total, KC stranded 13 runners and was 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
The game was scoreless going into the bottom of the seventh. After a leadoff single from Santana, Salvy capped off his week with another “Salvy Splash” into the fountains in left-center, giving the Royals a 2-0 lead.
The bullpen took care of the rest, and the Royals came away with a series win, taking three out of four from the Blue Jays. Singer got his first win of the year and Greg Holland recorded his second save.
Up Next
After a strong week, the Kansas City sits atop the AL Central and have the highest winning percentage in the American League with a 9-5 record. They are one of two teams in the MLB to not lose a series this season.
Starting Monday, the Tampa Bay Rays will conclude the ten-game homestand at Kauffman Stadium before the team travels to face the Detroit Tigers for a four-game series.
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