KC Replay: Perez’s big bat and Chiefs’ Reid, loss and new addition commanded spotlight
For fans of nonstop news, the past week in Kansas City sports delivered screaming headlines in spades.
The Chiefs lost their second straight game — when does that happen? Salvador Perez powered his way deeper into the record books; KC NWSL didn’t play as the National Women’s Soccer League halted all competition in the wake of a sexual-coercion scandal; and college hoops had some fun, with Late Night in the Phog in Lawrence and a Wildcats fan event in Manhattan.
Here’s a recap.
‘El Niño’ rains homers
Salvador Perez, beloved in Kansas City, took hold of the Royals’ single-season club record for home runs, equaling Jorge Soler’s mark of 48 with a first-inning blast against the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday at Kauffman Stadium.
Perez still had a few games left to ease past his friend and former Royals teammate Soler for sole possession of the long-ball record.
Perez’s 2021 season is the stuff legends are made of. Salvy had never homered more than 27 times in a season (2017, 2018) before this year.
Oh, and his 439-foot shot to center field helped the Royals beat Cleveland 10-5 that night.
Chiefs: Hospital stay for Big Red; Gordon signed
The stage was set for a bounce-back win at Arrowhead when the L.A. Chargers arrived last Sunday. Instead, Justin Herbert and company left KC with a victory after creating the first Chiefs losing streak in years.
Turnovers and sieve-like red zone defense were the culprits. Patrick Mahomes threw another interception (two, actually), and Clyde Edwards-Helaire fumbled again. The Chiefs have coughed it up six times in their last two games, both losses. They finally got a red zone stop, but it was the Chargers who ended a losing streak (their own) by beating the Chiefs 30-24.
The biggest news of the day occurred after the game, when head coach Andy Reid was ushered to KU hospital with undisclosed symptoms. He’d looked fine during the game but left right after via an ambulance. He was released the next day and returned to work, but details around the whole incident remain murky.
And that’s not all. The Chiefs signed former NFL star receiver Josh Gordon to their practice squad, with the hopes that his 6-foot-3 frame will come in handy, and soon, as a pass-catching target for Mahomes.
NWSL calls off games
Amid growing calls for the National Women’s Soccer League to address players’ concerns about critical matters like sexual harassment and coercion, all NWSL games scheduled for this weekend were called off.
That included KC NWSL’s scheduled game Saturday against the Houston Dash.
Last week, The Athletic published a story detailing allegations of predatory actions by longtime league coach Paul Riley and the league’s flat-footed response to repeated complaints from players.
College squads hoop it up
Late Night in the Phog, an annual tradition in Lawrence, fired up Friday night at Allen Fieldhouse, where Run DMC performed and coach Bill Self and his Jayhawks players showed off their moves.
It was a similar if scaled-down scene in Manhattan, where Bruce Weber and the Wildcats did not book a legendary rap act but did welcome fans into Bramlage Coliseum Saturday to watch Kansas State’s practice.
SKC handles business in Dallas
Sporting Kansas City lost a tough one to the Seattle Sounders, briefly surrendering the top spot in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference. But that’s a race that’s likely to go down to the wire.
On Wednesday, Sporting collected three points in those standings with a 3-1 victory at FC Dallas. Winger Daniel Salloi continued his assault on the MLS Golden Boot race with two more goals.
Salloi now has 15 goals this season.