Kansas City Royals captain Salvador Perez wants to taste the playoffs again. It’s been eight seasons since he played meaningful games in the fall.
The last time Perez and the Royals were in the Major League Baseball postseason, their campaign ended with a championship parade down Grand Boulevard in Kansas City.
That was 2015 following the Royals’ second second straight appearance in the World Series after not reaching that pinnacle since 1985.
Perez remembers those days vividly. And now he is closer than he’s been in a decade to stepping foot on the grandest stage again.
“As soon as you play in the playoffs, you don’t want to play ever again in the regular season,” Perez said. “You just want to play for the playoffs.”
Perez is doing his part to help the Royals get there. On Monday, he hit two home runs — including a grand slam — and recorded six RBIs in the Royals’ 9-4 victory over the Cleveland Guardians.
He tied Royals Hall of Famers George Brett and Frank White in multiple categories. He now sits alongside Brett with the most multi-homer games (17) in franchise history and is tied with White at six career grand slams.
The Royals (74-58) swept the Guardians (75-57) in Monday’s doubleheader. They picked up a 4-3 win in Game 1 of the twin bill.
KC now sits one game behind division-rival Cleveland for first place in the American League Central.
And the Royals can feel the momentum shifting.
“He’s obviously been there before,” pitcher Daniel Lynch IV said. “And I think it means a lot to him to get back. So if it means a lot to him, it means a lot to us.”
Lynch called Perez’s work ethic amazing.
“Just to see a guy work that hard and show up every day to play, you know he deserves it,” Lynch said. “Hopefully, the team can help him get back.”
The Royals fell behind 3-0 in Monday’s nightcap against the Guardians. But they didn’t panic and instead took advantage of their opportunities. Perez handled the big lifting, knocking in six runs, but he made the Guardians pay for their mistakes.
In the fifth inning, Perez was granted an extra swing after recording a foul tip in the dirt. He deposited the next pitch from Guardians starter Logan Allen over the outfield wall to give the Royals a 5-4 lead.
An inning later, Perez put the game away with his grand slam. The outburst helped the Royals secure their sixth win in eight games against the Guardians.
“We feel the obligation as a team and as an organization to get him back to those spots,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said of Perez. “And I think that was a big part of our drive this winter. You know, he deserves that and he earned that.”
The Royals are in good standing in their quest to return to the MLB postseason. In addition to being in the thick of the AL Central race,
they’re currently second in the scramble for an AL Wild Card spot. They hold a slim edge over the Minnesota Twins, who occupy the third wild-card position.
Meanwhile, the Boston Red has fallen down the standings. The Red Sox have lost four consecutive games and sit 5.5 games behind the Twins for the final wild-card spot.
The Royals’ chances of returning to the playoffs hinge on their performance to come. They’re currently in a 20-game stretch against teams in the postseason hunt. KC is 3-2 through five games against the Philadelphia Phillies and Guardians.
As September approaches, the Royals know that every game matters. The club’s mentality is to focus on “Today,” a motto they’re wearing on T-shirts.
Today will turn into tomorrow. And if Perez and the Royals have anything to say about it, they will be knocking on the door of the postseason once more.
“I think everybody has the same goal and same mentality in here,” Perez said. We are going to play hard. Whatever happens happens, but our goal is to make it to the playoffs.”
Leave a Reply